Bad Times in Go City
by noncynic
Summary: Kim is dragged along on Shego's quest for vengeance, resulting in nightmares for both of them.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.

This story is the sequel to 'No Country for Young Heroines.' It is not set in a Kim/Ron universe, but contains no actual pairings. It is part of my 'Four Seasons' universe, one of the prequels to the first segment of that, 'Summer'.

It begins in early spring of Kim's senior year at Middleton High School.

* * *

Kim Possible was about as happy as she'd been in a long time. Her life was clicking on all cylinders, scholastically, personally, and in her chosen sideline of saving the world from maniacal supervillains. She referred to it thus only because she already envisaged a time when she'd leave it behind, when she decided to live a relatively 'normal' life. Relatively because she expected there to be long lasting consequences from her fame as a heroine that would crop up as her life progressed. Hopefully, though, they wouldn't interfere too badly with her future.

Scholastically, she was an Honor Student, a leading candidate for Class Valedictorian, and captain of the Regional Championship Cheer Team. She'd even caught Mister Barkin smiling with satisfaction while perusing one of her essays, though the smile vanished immediately upon his becoming aware of her presence.

Personally, she had a loving family, albeit one that occasionally drove her to near-homicidal thoughts, or at least the occasional fantasy of life as an only child once more. And her lifelong best friend, or at least of her post Pre-K life, was beginning to show signs of actually graduating, an issue that had been in doubt for some time. Except somehow Kim had never doubted it, despite substantial proof to the contrary.

In her crimefighting life, most of her foes were going through changes, some possibly even giving up crime altogether. Dementor was having business troubles, having barely survived a hostile takeover. Rumors also suggested that he was in tax trouble with the German government. Montgomery Fiske, Monkeyfist, after a long obsession with becoming the true master of Mystical Monkey Power, had sought a new path to achieve his goal, the 'Path of the Yono'. But then someone, Kim believed the _Sensei Yamanouchi_, had shown Fiske what waited at the end of that path. And whatever was there had scared him sane, according to Global Justice reports. He had been inactive since then, nearly two months. Only in Ron Stoppable's online stories was he still active, and Ron had promised Kim as interesting interpretation of the 'end' of Monkeyfist.

Rumors said that Duff Killigan, the 'World's Most Dangerous Golfer', had fallen in love. In any event, he had recently been devoting his time solely to administering to his ancestral holdings, and filling his role as Laird of Loch Killigan.

DNAmy had also gone quiet, but Kim had little clue as to why, other then a veiled reference to 'Once bitten, Twice shy' from Doctor Director, who said in this case it was literal, and also highly classified. The fact that Kim was not privy to such information at the moment, as far as Global Justice was concerned was primarily her own fault. ON one hand, it was no longer likely that she'd become a regular GJ agent. IN addition, Betty Director was still unhappy about Kim's actions the previous summer when she'd gone off to Isle Drakkon on a flimsy pretext and found herself up to her neck in trouble.

Kim couldn't fault the woman for being unhappy, but it had been _months!_ How long could she continue to punish...well, maybe that was making it too personal. The teen shook her head, then broke off her musings to find that she'd arrived at her destination on auto-pilot, the Stoppable residence. She took the time to take a deep breath of the crisp, cool air and restore her mental equilibrium before ringing the doorbell.

Jean Stoppable answered the door, and smiled fondly when she saw Kim. "Right on time, but I expected nothing different! Come on in!" She ushered Kimberly inside, where the girl promptly spotted the reason for her visit.

Kim's smile widened. "And how is my favorite baby in the whole world?" She cooed as she advanced on Hana, who was sitting in a high chair in the living room. The little girl's own face lit up when she recognized Kim. She began to wave both arms vigorously as Kim swept her up in her arms. "Oh, you're getting to be a big girl aren't you? Yes you are!" Kim glanced at Jean, "Seriously!"

Hana giggled as Jean nodded agreement with Kim. "She puts it away at mealtimes, that's for sure. Sometimes can't believe so much food can go into so small a body...until I have to change her diaper, of course!" Jean and Kim both rolled their eyes, smiling. "By the way, Ron's upstairs, _hopefully _doing homework!"

At that moment Ron's father Dean Stoppable came bouncing into the living room. Almost literally bouncing, Kim noted, even more hyped up then when he had won the Actuary of the Year award. He smacked his hands together, rubbing them vigorously even as he kissed both his wife and adopted daughter. "Are we ready to go yet? Oh, hi, Kim!"

Kim greeted him politely as Jean smiled a tolerant smile. "We're almost ready, Dear, need to give Kim her instructions, then fetch Ron down from the attic."

"Right!" Dean heartily replied, "Then I'll...too early to warm up the car, hmm..Ah! I'll go check my E-Mails, see if any more of the guys have managed to get free and be there!" He bounced back out of the room.

"He checked his E-Mails ten minutes ago." Jean observed dryly, then smiled at Kim. "Basically, this is just an overextended babysitting chore. We'll be leaving at four, hopefully, and might be back as late as one, maybe even two, in the morning. We might make it there in two hours, with Dean driving, but I'll be driving us home, so the return trip will be somewhat longer! It basically depends on how long Dean hangs out with his old school buddies after the game."

Kim nodded her understanding. "This game is considered a big rivalry game, yet only happens every other year?" She asked.

Jean looked heavenward. "Yes, Thank the Lord!" Then she shrugged. "Still, it's nice that this year he thinks Ron is grown up enough to come along, and meet all Dean's old friends, and engage in their usual post-game rituals...under my watchful eye! Not sure whether the post-victory or post-defeat version would be better for Ron, but there will be some other 'next-gen' kids there, he shouldn't get bored."

"Is your husband unhappy that Ron probably isn't going to the same university as he did?" Kim asked as she smiled at Hana, who had hold of one of Kim's fingers.

"Not at all! Ron's not going to be an actuary...we were worried for a while about him making it to college at all, you know." Jean admitted, "He did so well in middle school, then seemed to drop off once he was in High School." She shook her head, then beamed a smile at Hana as she addressed Kim. "Dinner is ready to be warmed up, and her food is in the usual place. She's gone off strained apples for some reason, just like with carrots a couple of months ago. If you get tired, feel free to lie down in the guest room, or wherever you're comfortable."

Kim nodded again, smiling. "We'll be fine, Mrs Stoppable." Hana burbled happily, as if to agree.

"I know I can trust you, Kim." Jean replied, then she took Hana into her own arms. "Now, would you mind heading upstairs and getting Ron moving?"

"No problem, Mrs Stoppable!" Kim replied, and dashed up the stairs.

0000000000

_Ron struggled to free himself from the vines, while glaring angrily at Drakken. "We're on the same side! You're not supposed to grab me!"_

_Wringing his hands agitatedly, Drakken shot back "I know, force of habit! You __rushed right at me!"_

"_To push you out of the way of that!" Ron shouted back, trying to indicate a fallen Lorwardan walker with his head. "And why aren't they letting go of me now?!"_

"_They seem to sense some latent hostility in you towards me...Gah!" The blue scientist shouted as more debris rained from the sky, forcing him to dodge madly to avoid them. He looked skywards to where Kim Possible, in her white and blue supersuit, was engaging in an aerial duel with the Lorwardan leader, Warhok. "I think she did that on purpose!"_

_Before Ron could reply, a crash heralded the arrival of two more combatants, Warmonga and Shego. They came through the wall of a nearby building, tumbling a short distance before breaking apart and unsteadily rising to their feet. Both looked much the worse for wear, and the 'supersuit' Drakken had built for Shego looked like it had shot it's last bolt, but the thief still had her plasma._

_Wobbling unsteadily, Shego fixed Warmonga with her good eye, the other being nearly swollen shut. "You had enough, pickle-face?" She challenged her opponent._

"_Never!" Roared Warmonga, before swaying dizzily for a moment, "A warrior of Lorwarda would never admit defeat to an insignificant being such as yourself! They would rather die first!" Then she staggered, blinking, "Or pass out..." she added. Then her eyes crossed, and she fell face forward in the street with a substantial 'thud'._

_A triumphant smirk appeared on Shego's face, then she winced and felt the hinge of her jaw, before straightening up. "Yeah, she thought she was the big b—big--she thought she was tough, but I shewed—showed her!"_

"_Shego, are you all right?" Drakken asked in a worried tone. The vines had gone slack around Ron, and he disentangled himself as he studied Shego carefully._

"_Never Better, Doctor D!" Shego declared, only to abruptly drop to her knees. She looked down in surprise, then muttered "O-kay, been better, but I'm still..." Then her eyes rolled up in her head, and she toppled sideways to the ground._

_Both men started towards her, only to have a loud shout of alarm draw their eyes skyward. Then they broke in opposite directions as Warhok face-planted in the street, his flight pack spiraling downwards independently to crash into a pile of rubble._

_Ron looked upwards. "KP!" He shouted, as his BFGF swooped down to land on __the prostrate body of their alien foe._

"And save!" Ron Stoppable muttered to himself. Then he flexed his fingers and rubbed his hands as he read what he'd written. "That should work!" He remarked with a look of satisfaction on his face, which he lost as he vaulted from his chair when the voice of his best friend came from behind him.

"And at what point in this story do you get to share the credit for the victory?" Kim asked, "Since I believe we agreed that if this is the finale, you need to get the credit you deserve for the success of our team?"

"KP, don't _do_ that!" Ron exclaimed, "I'm the one who's supposed to be a ninja! Or a pseudo ninja, anyway!" He sat back down as he tried to get his heart rate under control.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Kim persisted sternly.

Ron made a face. "KP, _you're_ the heroine of the story, _you're _the one who triumphs over evil, I'm the sidekick!"

"No!" Kim said flatly, "You're no sidekick to me, you're my partner, and you have been for some time!"

"In real life yes, KP!" Ron responded in an appeasing tone, "But not in the stories! I mean, there's already so many differences between real life and my writing, why does this one thing matter?"

Kim held his gaze for a moment, then sighed, and quietly said "It matters to me, Ron."

Ron felt his insides knot up, his resistance failing. For some people the Puppy Dog Pout was necessary, but not for Ron. "KP...how am I supposed to take on a nine foot alien and win?" he asked plaintively.

"How did I? You had to give me that supersuit that's still just a fantasy in Wade's mind...or it had better be! You even gave Shego one, from what I just read! I mean, you could...use your Mystical Monkey Power, right?" Kim stood with her arms folded, awaiting his response.

Ron grimaced. "Kim, some of my fans...how powerful am I supposed to make the MMP? I don't even know how powerful it actually _is_!" Then he relented slightly. "I'd have to ask _Sensei_, he's very concerned with how I portray it. The fact it's in my stories actually helps most people disbelieve it's existence, which is actually a good thing, according to him. But, it is real, and he wants me to be careful about how I write about it!"

Kim took that in and stood silently for a long moment, then she nodded. "Ron, don't think this is an ego thing. When I agreed you could make us boyfriend and girlfriend in the stories...it's not like I'm asking you to make the Ron you write about the 'equal' of your Kim, or anything like that! I want you to portray him as a guy who can stand on his own two feet, kick butt and take names!" Ron's eyes widened slightly at that, and a little color came to Kim's cheeks. "At least think about it, _please_?"

Again no PDP was necessary. Ron folded his hand mentally, then smiled. "Okay, KP, I'll work on it, I promise!"

"Good!" Kim declared decisively, then frowned. "Why did you make Drakken and Shego our allies?"

"Oh! I was actually going to have a bunch of our villains, plus some old allies, all join us in defeating the Lorwardans, but decided that would take too much writing, so I dropped it to one villain. And of course it had to be the first one we ever fought! In print, that is!" Ron explained.

Kim still didn't look too happy with the idea, but she nodded grudgingly. "Well, as long as you're not getting any ideas that those two are reforming in real life, that's all!"

"Why would I get that idea?" Ron asked, somewhat confused.

Kim blinked, then shook her head slightly. "Nevermind! Um, where did you get the idea for Drakken having the vines and stuff?"

Ron sensed that Kim may have just diverted him from a topic sensitive to her, but let it go. "From images Wade pulled from Dementor's security system, after Drakken and Shego's raid on his botanical laboratory. There was one where some vines were so tightly wrapped around Doctor D, you'd have thought they were growing out of him!"

"Oh." Kim replied, remembering the same footage. Then she noticed the time showing on Ron's computer screen. "You'd better get moving, your parents want to leave at four."

Ron did a double-take on the clock. "Oh, snap! You're right!" He shot to his feet and dashed to his closet, one just recently built to further improve the status of the attic as living quarters. As he snatched a different shirt off a hanger, he called over his shoulder. "Rufus has everything he should need, so you don't have to worry about him, KP!"

Kim glanced over to where Rufus' cage perched atop an old table. His running tubes were suspended from the rafters, running in a racetrack shape around the room, just above eye level to Kim. The naked mole rat regarded her briefly in return, before dashing into one of the tubes and hurrying around the room to where Ron was tugging a facsimile football jersey on over his head, with the number 7 on it, in Middleton Mad Dog home colors. "Flying your home team's colors tonight?" She asked teasingly.

Ron nodded, grinning. "Natch! I always wondered if I could have worked on my shooting enough to make the basketball team! I had the mad dribbling skills, but man..."

"You could have, Ron." Kim replied with certainty, "All you needed to do was practice! And think about the story, I want you holding your own, if not winning the day yourself. You've soloed five missions by my count, you deserve more credit!"

Busy digging his wallet out of a drawer in his bedside table, Ron made a face. "Well, if you want to give me honest credit..." He saw Kim's curious but expectant look, took a breath, and continued, "I had a little help on three of those, so only two were truly solo."

"Help from.." Kim began, when suddenly Dean Stoppable's voice came from below, calling for Ron. Kim sighed. "We'll talk about that later, you'd better get going!"

0000000000

It was nearly midnight when the last movie Kim had the vaguest interest in ended. She'd watched the one DVD she'd brought, and didn't care to repeat the viewing, she'd hated the ending. She liked playing video games with Ron, but they didn't appeal to her as a solo activity. And Hana was apparently choosing to have one of her good nights, there hadn't been a peep from her since Kim had put her down for the night.

A ferocious yawn made Kim tilt her head back, and she smiled as she spotted the baby footprints on the ceiling. They were actually cut from a black plastic material, and could be peeled off anytime. Ron's father had made them and applied them after reading one of Ron's 'Hana' stories. Ron's mother said they were good for discovering whether visitors had ever read Ron's story, by the way they reacted if they spotted them. Especially if they happened to be holding Hana in their own lap at the time.

Kim really didn't want to sleep in one of the Stoppables' beds, but their couch was for some reason very uncomfortable to sleep on. Ron claimed that was deliberate, and had to do with certain relatives, but Kim wasn't sure how truthful that was.

Finally giving into the inevitable, Kim rose and stretched, yawning prodigiously once again, picked up the baby monitor, and started to head for the guest room. But then she stopped, and turned towards the stairs up. If Hana woke her up, she didn't want to be that far from the baby's room, and have to fumble around in the dark in a strange place.

By the time she'd reached the top of the stairs, she'd already dismissed using Ron's parents' room, that just seemed too awkweird. Which left her with Ron's attic room, which had two advantages: Hana's room was right at the foot of the steps up, and she knew the room well enough not to trip over things in the dark. Oddly, considering his generally disordered lifestyle, Ron was fastidious about keeping his room picked up, and had been for as long as Kim had known him. In fact, he had been far neater about that then she had, up until they both hit nine or so.

Kim looked in on Hana just to be sure, and saw her sleeping peacefully. Then she began to trudge up the stairs to the attic, using the switch at the foot of the stairs to turn the lights on above, and yawning enough to have been embarrassing if she hadn't been alone. _"With all this yawning, watch me hit the bed and not be able to go to sleep!" _She thought with a grin.

Kim took a peek in Rufus' cage, but the little animal seemed to be sound asleep as well. She set the baby monitor next to the bed, then kicked off her shoes. Leaving the covers in place, she took the folded comforter at the foot of Ron's bed, shook it out, then pulled it over herself as she lay down. She used a bedside switch to extinguish the lights, and contrary to her expectations, she was out like the lights within three minutes.

She wasn't exactly sure what roused her, but something caused her to stir. The comforter was over her head, so she must have been in a burrowing mood. She yawned and wet dry lips, and was about to throw off the comforter when the bed moved. She froze. Was it Ron? Too zonked to notice the bed was occupied?_ "No, wait...Ron would have turned the lights on, so who?" _Whoever it was was getting under all the covers, which seemed to indicate...then a familiar voice whispered in the dark...

"Stoppable-san, wake up, it's 'booyah' time!"

Rufus' eyes shot open at the sound of some incoherent shout. His night-adjusted eyes had just registered a sinister dark mass up near the ceiling when the lights suddenly blazed on, causing him shut his eyes in response. But not before he identified the mass as the comforter from Ron's bed, which was just beginning to descend from the height to which it had been propelled.

Squinting, he was able to make out his second favorite human, Ron's non-mate female friend, standing on the near side of his master's bed. She looked quite disheveled, not that Rufus was any judge of human style. She also looked quite shocked, something his master had sometimes incurred in her, so he knew the look.

On the other side of the bed was another human he hadn't fully decided on yet. His master treated her more as a mate during several nocturnal visits she had made lately. Right now, she also looked shocked, and was dressed the same way as Rufus himself went through life...

"Yori?!?" Kim hissed in shock, glancing quickly at the baby monitor.

Catching the glance, and appreciating it's significance, Yori also kept her voice down. "Kim Possible, what the hell are you doing in Ron's bed?!"

Kim sucked in her cheeks as she bit back her first retort. Then she smirked. "Fell out of character, Yori? Or does Ron like it when you talk like that?" She was trying to ignore the fact that Yori was apparently unconcerned with her nudity. Kim was fairly sure her own embarrassment would have been terminal if by some unlikely chance the sitch had been reversed.

Now the Japanese girl smirked as she placed her hands on her hips. "As a matter of fact, he does seem to respond...favorably, to it!"

For the hundredth time in her life, at least, Kim wished she had voluntary control of her blush reflex. She saw Yori's smirk widen as her own cheeks reddened. Then inspiration struck her. "Maybe so, but he's an _underage_ boy 'responding' to you!"

Smirk changed to scowl as Yori glared at Kim. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's none of your business!"

"That may be true," A new and unexpected voice spoke, causing both girl's heads to snap around, "But it is damn well is _my _business!"

Jean Stoppable stood near enough to the top of the steps that her head was visible, and the look on her face boded ill for someone, or a pair of someones.

Kim closed her eyes, wincing. _"Ron, I hope they allow you to write..."_

Rufus, deciding that there was precious little he could do to save his master this time, chose to burrow into his bedding and try and return to sleep. After all, his living circumstances might change at any moment, no point wasting his possibly last chance to enjoy a comfortable bed...

0000000000

In the rear seat of the Stoppables' van, sitting in the driveway outside the opened garage door, Ron and his father sat side-by-side, heads leaning against one another, snoring. It was this image that Jean had wanted Kim to see, the reason she had entered the house alone. She had been quiet, of course, to avoid waking Hana, and had clearly heard the outraged shout when Kim had first exited the bed.

Now Ron twitched as the garage lights came on and hit him in the face. His eyelids flickered, then some instinct insisted that he open them fully. As he blinked to try and adjust to the light, he made out three blurry outlines through the windshield.

Then he began to make out details, and realized he was looking at Kim, his mom, and...very suddenly, Ron was very much awake, and dearly wishing he wasn't. He nudged his dad with his elbow. "Dad, you might want to move away, because I'm about to get hit by 360 pounds of female outrage!" He said mournfully.

0000000000

"Grounded! For how long, Kim?" Monique asked in a shocked tone. The two girls were in Kim's room the following morning, which was Saturday. Monique had come by to drag Kim to the mall, and hadn't expecting much resistance to the dragging. But instead, Kim had dragged _her_, upstairs to her bedroom, where she'd closed the hatch and even turned on a white-sound generator, before telling Monique the whole story.

"Until he graduates, with grades adequate to go to a decent college!" Kim responded dourly from the depths of her beanbag chair. "And that includes missions!" She added in an exasperated tone.

"Are you serious, girlfriend?" Monique asked incredulously. She sat on the edge of Kim's bed. "If you go, you go solo?"

"Yeah, that's No Big, recently!" Kim replied, "On disasters, I usually get there after the locals have gotten organized, and Global Justice has been backing me up a lot more promptly then they used to." She paused, making a face, "Since my little fiasco in the Caribbean last summer, that is!" She qualified.

"Uh huh." Monique responded neutrally. Knowing it would do no good at all to adjust Kim's opinions regarding missions, she instead chose to focus on the juicy stuff. "What's up with these ninjas, letting teenagers run around like that? I mean, does she come all the way from _Japan_ just to give Ron a roll?"

"Mon..." Kim began, then broke off, massaging her forehead with one hand briefly before abruptly struggling to her feet. She began to pace. "Yori isn't a teenager, she's a ninja!"

Monique waited briefly for further elaboration, but her patience wasn't present for duty just then. "Other then a simple statement of fact, does that have other meaning?"

Kim stopped, pressing her fingertips to both temples. "Yeah, it does." She took a slow, deep breath, then turned to face Monique. "The ninja didn't just run around in the dead of night in dark clothes, Mon. They perfected the art of remaining unseen, or unnoticed would be better, in any circumstance. They could disguise themselves by the simplest means, and alter their appearance to play many roles. One good ninja, wearing a single set of clothes, could pass himself off as a peasant, prosperous merchant, or minor official, with only a few alterations in how they wore the clothes, their demeanor, lots of simple things."

She dropped into the chair at her desk as Monique listened raptly. "The real first time that I met Yori was in Hawaii, she was playing the role of a tour guide to a bunch of middle-age Japanese tourists, several of whom were Yamanouchi ninjas. And she was playing it as a Japanese-American, and her idiom was perfect! The second time, I sat on a plane for three hours without realizing that the power secretary across the aisle in the business suit was her, with her immediate superior who I'd met before playing her boss. If they hadn't deliberately let me know, I'd probably still not have known they were there! I heard them talking business the whole flight, and it sounded completely authentic!"

Monique shook her head in wonder. "Is there anything in Ron's stories about those guys that _is_ true?"

Kim shrugged, a lopsided grin on her face, "They _are_ ninjas."

"But Yori isn't a teenager?" Monique asked warily.

"No, but she plays one in real life!" Kim joked half-heartedly.

"Well, that brings up some issues concerning Ron's age doesn't it..." Monique trailed off as a thought struck her. Then her eyes widened. "Hi—Hi—Hirotaka?" She looked at Kim incredulously, "Was Hirotaka a teenager?"

Kim winced, then shook her head slowly.

Monique smacked herself on the forehead, flopping back on the bed as she did. "We—we crushed on a...please tell me he wasn't _that _far past 20!" She raised her head to give Kim a pleading look.

Kim made a face. "Can't say for certain, but I later found out that he had graduated college, not long before he came over to keep an eye on me."

Monique groaned. "What would have happened if we had managed to get to the head of the line, so to speak?"

Kim snorted. "Through practically the whole Junior and Senior classes? Not very likely!" She sighed. "I love Ron, but when he digs himself a hole, he buries himself in it!"

"Said it before, the boy does have his talents!" Monique cracked as she sat up again. Then she saw Kim scrutinizing her, and she waved her hands in negation. "Don't get any ideas, girlfriend! Whatever Yori taught him, only Yori has benefited from..._or..._well, as far as I know, but Ron is pretty popular with some girls that know better than to believe the stories he writes."

"Which, according to Wade's informal poll, is roughly 37%!" Kim remarked. She smiled ruefully, "Sometimes I wish I hadn't let him hook us up in the online stories, so many people believe the wrong parts of those stories!" Then four familiar tones sounded from her computer. "Speak of the devil!" She grinned, and turned to activate the screen.

Wade's smiling face appeared. "Hi Kim." Then he grimaced. "Heard about Ron, that's not good! Think he can make the grades?"

"He can make the grades, Wade!" Kim responded without hesitation, "Now what's the sitch?"

"Oh! Well, you have a hit on your site, from someone you know." Her webmaster replied, then hesitated before elaborating, "Jen Paladin."

Kim frowned, mulling that over, and coming up with.."I got nothing, Wade, what does she say she wants?"

"She wants you to do something concerning Shego, and she says it's complicated, and totally voluntary, but can't go into details until she meets with you." Wade waited for over a minute as Kim frowned in concentration. "What do you want me to reply?" He finally prodded her.

"I—I owe her my life, but this doesn't sound like..." She nodded decisively, "Set it up, Wade, I at least have to hear her out!"

"You got it, Kim!" He replied, and signed off.

"Already going solo, girlfriend?" Monique asked, now standing at Kim's shoulder.

"No Big, Mon, it's Shego, I can handle her!" Kim replied confidently.

The skeptical look remained on Monique's face. "Uh, huh. It's also 'complicated' which probably means you aren't just going to go in and try and kick her ass, Kim! That you can handle, I know."

Kim put her hands behind her neck and arched her back. "Well, I'll just have to handle 'complicated' too!"

* * *

Okay, the humor isn't going to last, and I think I'll earn the 'M' rating I'm tagging this with before it's over, and it's not going to be sex.

For now, Please Read and Review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.

Thanks to Feudor and Screaming Phoenix for reading and reviewing the first chapter.

* * *

**Ron, texting you because if I talk to you in person, you may start venting about how unfair you think this is. And I'm not sure I'd take it well. At least, I might not be too sympathetic, sorry—K.**

…

**So, Rufus has to suffer in your stead? j/k. U R right. I know I deserve this, I really do, but when I think of U going alone...if anything happens to you, it's on me—R.**

…

**Ron, so NOT your fault, whatever happens—K.**

00000000000

"_I'm probably the only person in the world who can be so depressed by such a nice place." _Kim thought, then snorted at her own conceit. Plenty of people became depressed in even the most beautiful of paradises. But this paradise, Kim had personal history with.

She sat in the backseat of an open topped cab, the breeze in her hair, the smell of flowers,now that they'd left behind the small capitol city of Port Marie, and the beautiful scenery was doing nothing to cancel the down feelings she was experiencing. They were caused in equal measure by the nature of her mission and the empty seat beside her.

The last time she had ever called Ron stupid was when they were both nine years old. He'd called her stupid back, and the feeling that had caused resolved her never to do it again. She even refused to associate the word with him. When someone else called Ron or something he did stupid, she almost automatically denied it emphatically. But there was only one word for what Ron had done with Yori, as far as she was concerned...stupid!

Standing next to him as his father had laid into him had been one of the most painful things she'd ever experienced because of Ron, more so because she had never seen Dean Stoppable so angry in her life. The fact he kept his voice low to avoid waking Hana had actually made the words hit harder. He may have been angrier due to having what had been a wonderful time that evening spoiled, but Kim wasn't sure.

Yori had stood nearby with her head bowed the whole time, and Kim had seen her eyes widen and her face flush when Mr Stoppable said one thing in particular.

"_You showed disrespect for your Mother in her own house!"_ Those words had seemed to physically strike Ron, and caused the strong reaction in Yori as well.

Jean Stoppable had been glancing at Kim occasionally throughout, and seeing signs the girl was feeling physically ill, had announced her intent to drive Kim home, which had brought the chastisement to at least a temporary halt. But as they opened the front door to leave, they were confronted by a strange man on the doorstep.

He was Japaneses, or at least had Japanese blood, and upon seeing him, Yori executed a formal bow and remained in it until he acknowledged the Stoppables, then fired off a stream of Japanese that went so fast Kim couldn't make it out. Yori had straightened, save for her head, which she kept bowed, and marched stiffly out the door.

The man had then bowed to the Stoppables, who seemed to know him. _"This inappropriate behavior will not go undisciplined, Stoppable-san, please rest assured!" _He had bowed yet again, then turned and vanished into the dark.

And that was another mystery that Kim hadn't been offered any answers to, which naturally annoyed her. There were several more relating to the Stoppables and their newly adopted daughter that had cropped up in the last year or so. Not that Kim _had_ to know everything, but it was still annoying.

She forced those thoughts from her mind with an effort, straightened up in her seat and began to take an interest in her surroundings, even as she took a tighter grip on her bag on the seat beside her.

Ilsa Drakkon still looked like paradise of a sort, but Kim just couldn't forget that in this paradise were two serpents. Drakken and Shego. And her two previous visits, inspired by their presence, had both left a sour feeling in her mind. Okay, so her first visit had resulted in her saving the lives of two now very influential men, the current President and the Chief Magistrate. But that had been an opportunity thrown her way because she'd gotten herself arrested, of all things!

The second visit had gone all topsy-turvy, with Kim once again in jail for something she had been guilty of, and then risking her life to save Drakken and Shego's lives! Okay, there were a bunch of other people at risk, including Kim herself, but still...irony was a mean bitch, to be sure. And Kim in turn had had her own life saved by Jen Paladin, which could be credited as the main reason Kim was here now. _"Convenient excuse, if I wanted to ignore my own curiosity, my desire to check up on the two of them, and...common decency."_

Kim caught the driver watching her in the rear-view mirror and smiled at him. "So, how have things been since my last memorable visit?" She asked pleasantly.

The driver made a show of looking confused. "And when might dat have been, Miss?" He replied politely.

Kim's smile actually broadened at that. "You know, I originally intended to fly over on the evening flight and spend the night here, which would have allowed you to better prepare." A touch of wariness appeared in the driver's eyes, but he continued to feign confusion, which turned to open chagrin at Kim's next words. "But you had time to change out of your uniform trousers before switching places with the cabdriver, I wasn't in any hurry." She sighed. "In fact, I _have_ been delaying this, for personal reasons, and because I was asked to take my time getting here. But this sort of thing really shouldn't be delayed too long, for decency's sake!"

The driver was shaking his head slowly, exasperated that he'd been found out. Finally he looked in the mirror at his passenger. "Constable Benoit, at your service!" He remarked caustically, "Another 'too clever for his own boots' policeman!"

Kim winced at his bitter tone. "Constable, please remember, I'm not exactly your average teenage girl, I have some experience at certain things, so don't take it so hard, please?"

The man just shook his head and remained silent for a few minutes, before finally speaking. "Back in November, you had that big fight with Miss Black, all recorded and shown on television?" He waited for Kim to nod, "The one where she appeared to break her leg?"

Kim winced. "She _did_ break it, but I wasn't responsible." She replied, just a touch defensively.

"I know that! I saw what she did, it was unbelievably reckless just to gain as edge in her fight with you." The 'undercover' Constable replied, "Anyway, there was a man who opened a business here in August, everything about him checked out, he had three employees who all seemed harmless enough. But he wasn't, obviously, or there's be no point in bringing him up, would there?"

"An assassin?" Kim guessed, now with a note of concern in her voice.

He nodded. "Yes, and he evidently figured Miss Black would be vulnerable after that fight, so he made his move, along with his 'team'. Ended up with three of them badly hurt and in custody. No proof of what happened to the fourth, Mister Lipsky and Miss Black both deny any knowledge of what happened to him."

Kim snorted. "I'll bet they do!" She muttered sarcastically, but the driver heard her clearly.

"Miss, understand this:I am a policeman, and I know they are criminals, which puts me in an awkward position. I for one...well, there are others who feel the same, don't like the idea of them living freely here, even with all they did for us. But, they _did _do it, and the Island is much better for it. So at the moment, I can live with the Government's policy towards them, even if I don't like it much."

Kim just nodded absently, having partially tuned the constable out after a certain point, concentrating more on her thoughts regarding an his observation about Shego. _"She has been doing things differently since last summer, maybe even a little before that. Almost seems like she likes to up the 'degree of difficulty' of practically everything she does athletically, even fighting. I've even landed a couple of good ones, merely because she did overdo something. Wonder why she's acting this way?"_

Then, having caught the gist of what the constable had said, she nodded and told him, "I guess I can understand that, at least to a point. Whatever their motives, they did do some good here...what happened to the assassin?"

"Extradited." He replied bluntly. Then, catching her curious look, he smiled grimly. "We do have the option to voluntarily agree to extradition requests, we're just not _obligated _to honor them! And yes, we have refused to agree to several extradition requests regarding Mister Lipsky and Miss Black." Suddenly he grinned, shaking his head. "Have you heard what Edouard LeMonde tried to do?"

"He's still around?" Kim asked, genuinely surprised.

"Oh, yes! Still around." he confirmed, "And trying to get Amnesty International interested in his brother's case!"

"In freeing a former dictator..." Kim trailed off, then shook her head. "somehow, that doesn't seem as crazy to me as it would have, last year." She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, just feeling the sun and the breeze on her face. _"How does one tell when one has 'lost' her innocence?" _She snorted, then opened her eyes and looked around as she felt the cab slow down. And felt her stomach knot as the cab turned into the familiar entrance to Doctor Drakken's Isle Drakkon home.

There had been a bit of landscaping done since her last visit, the trees on either side of the drive cut back a good thirty feet on each side, and replaced with flowers. Kim wondered if the changes were due to the previous summer's attack or not. _"Could be either, but I'd bet on the attack being the reason." _she mused.

And now there was a fountain in front of the garage, creating a turning circle in front of the house. A small fountain, but..._"Plenty of space in it for surveillance devices, or something nastier!" _Kim thought grimly. Then they stopped at the foot of one of the two flights of steps that led up to the front door of Drakken's home. She actually took a deep breath before reaching for the door handle. Then her driver's voice stopped her.

"Miss Possible." She turned to face him, and saw conflict in his expression before he continued, "Is what you brought through Customs...is it for Mister Lipsky?"

Kim hesitated, then slowly shook her head. The driver nodded. "I see. Well, please try and not cause any trouble this time, though if you're here for the reason we assume, there should be no likelihood of that, should there?"

Kim shook her head, pulled the strap of her bag over her shoulder, and exited the vehicle. "I'll call if I need a ride back to Port Marie." She rummaged in her wallet for money to pay the fare, then handed it over with a faint smile. "I assume this will go to the actual driver?" She asked lightly.

"That's between him and me, Miss." The driver replied solemnly, but his lips twitched a bit before he turned his attention to his driving, and pulled away.

Kim turned to face the steps up, somehow seeing them in her mind as a great obstacle. Then she snorted in self-derision, and started up. As she turned at the landing to ascend the second flight, her mind went back to the previous summer, when she ambushed two armed mercenaries on the same steps. She studied the location of the hidden hatch she'd used, and saw no sign of it. Then she broke off her musings and started upwards again.

The front door opened just as she reached it, and to her surprise it was Drakken himself who opened it. Rather then usher her in, he stepped outside. But he seemed at a momentary loss for words, just returning her own steady gaze for a moment as he moistened his lips. Then his eyes shifted to her bag, and he finally spoke. "Wh—what you have in there, a—are you bringing it to me?"

Kim was momentarily startled, it had never occurred to her that Drakken might expect such a thing, with her as the messenger. She couldn't help a small stammer herself as she replied, "N—no sir, I—I mean, it's not for you.." she hesitated briefly, and heard Drakken mutter _'oh thank God' _before she continued, "I brought this.._them, _err, _it!_" She grimaced, shaking her head, then composed herself. "I'm here to see Shego." She stated flatly.

Drakken seemed to take this as a perfectly normal thing. He nodded his head jerkily. "Shego's down at her house...how would you like to proceed? Do you want me...do you think I should be there?" He asked sincerely. He stepped aside and ushered Kim into the house as he spoke.

The question caught Kim off guard, and the sudden shift from sunlight to shadow caused a far stronger shiver through her body then it should have. "I—I'm really not sure how Shego will feel about this...it's up to you, I suppose, you'd know better then me how she takes...unpleasant news." She wandered through the foyer into the living room, eyes drifting to the corner where Shego had cowered, her senses dulled to the point of uselessness. Kim found herself shuddering at the memory, and wasn't sure why.

Apparently not noticing, Drakken's eyebrows rose. "I wouldn't say that was true, every time you intervened in one of our affairs, it was unpleasant news, to her!" Then he expelled his breath in a huff. "I suppose I'll accompany you, she may actually want a...friend, there."

Kim just nodded in acquiescence. The pair exited the rear doors onto the patio, and Kim was again hit by a rush of memories, none of them pleasant. Her eyes darted to the spot in the bordering hedge where Liam, the man who had been about to kill her, had fallen when Jen Paladin killed him instead.

Fighting down any reaction, she walked to a large circular table in the center of the patio and set her bag down on top of it. Opening it up, she explained to Drakken, "Don't want to reach into my bag in front of Shego, who knows what she might think I'm doing!" The faint smile she affected as she said this faded immediately as her fingers encountered the smooth surface of the object she sought, which she pulled out and stared at for nearly a minute, before closing her bag, settling the strap over her shoulder again, and turning to Drakken. "Let's go."

They made their way down from the hill, following the path to Shego's 'cottage'. Memories intruded less on Kim now, her focus being occupied by the unpleasant task she was about to perform. _"The reasoning behind me doing this is looking a little thin right now." _Kim mused darkly. Then something occurred to her. "You knew I was coming, and you knew what I was bringing, did you tell Shego about either?" she asked Drakken.

"No I didn't." He replied, "Because I really thought you might be coming to see me, and if so, I didn't want any friction occurring between the two of you."

Kim nodded. That certainly made sense, all things considered. See kept her eyes sweeping ahead, remembering the sights of her previous visit. Then a sight she should have expected, but hadn't. Sophie Callard, who had been in the adjacent cell during Kim's overnight incarceration during her last visit, was standing outside Shego's door, in the shade of the covered porch. She had her hands on her hips and was staring at Kim with an expression of great curiosity.

Kim smiled in greeting. "Hi, Sophie. I'm impressed, that you managed to stay Shego's housekeeper all this time, that is."

"Yeah, well, some people need someone to throw their own crap back in their faces, she be one a'dem!" Seeing Kim blush, and at the same time look shocked, Sophie smiled widely and stepped forwards to give the girl a hug, careful of her burden. "How you been, girl? Hear about you on the news all the time, when the 'lady' of the house ain't here! You be fighting the good fight, but I don't believe you ain't getting hurt some times in the doing of it."

Kim smiled and shrugged as Sophie released her. "A few bumps and bruises here and there, No Big!"

Sophie gave her a searching look. "And here I thought you were a bad liar!" Smirking in response to Kim's blush, she then cast her gaze down to the object Kim was holding, and a frown creased her face. But before she could speak, they all heard a familiar voice coming from around the far corner of the house.

"My ears are burning as if there's a match held to them, so someone must be..." Shego's voice abruptly cut off as she turned the corner and spotted Kim. She had her hand on the shoulder of a little girl about seven, who Kim guessed was one of Sophie's children. They both wore swimsuits and shorts, Shego's a ratty denim pair.

Now the thief's eyes widened in surprise. "Do your ears really burn?" The girl asked, momentarily defusing whatever was boiling up in Shego. She looked down at the child and clamped down on whatever she was about to say.

"You should know, child, since I've been calling you, and calling you!" Sophie scolded her daughter. "So, Amana Lynn, do your ears feel hot?"

The little girl shook her head. "No." She replied sulkily. "We were picking flowers..." She looked down at her empty hands, "_Supposed_ to be picking flowers, but we kinda forgot!"

Shego, still trying to decide how to handle the situation, caught Kim's quick smile as she listened to the little girl and Sophie's exchange. She turned to Sophie herself. "Yeah, it's sort of my fault we forgot the flowers, Sop..." She broke off as she finally noticed what Kim was carrying.

Noticing this, Sophie held her hand out to her daughter. "You come on, now! Wash your hands, then you be helping me fix dinner, girl!" The little girl nodded and took her mother's hand, but gave Kim a long look as she passed her, smiling back in response to Kim's friendly smile.

When the girl and her mother were inside, Shego gestured for the three of them to move away from the house. When they had moved about thirty feet towards the surf line, she stopped them. "What the hell are _you_ doing..." Shego began angrily, then her eyes dropped to the square wooden box with a round ceramic lid in the center of it's top. "Did—did you bring those here...is that...dammit, Princess! Who's ashes are those?"

Kim wet her lips, then met Shego's anxious gaze. "Her name was Milly Whitlock." Then Kim took an involuntary step backwards as the woman suddenly dropped to her knees, a devastated expression on her face. Drakken stepped hesitantly forward, but held back for some reason.

Kim was stunned, she'd never seen, nor expected to see, Shego in such a state. She was on the verge of hyperventilating, and looked as if she was about to be sick, though Kim couldn't clearly see her face due to it's being obscured by her hair as she looked down at the sand between her knees. Kim was at a total loss as to what she should do.

"Why you?" Shego asked hoarsely, "Why me? Why isn't her fucking family taking care of her?" She kept her head down as she spoke, an edge of anger seeping into her last words.

Kim took a deep breath. "Shego, she doesn't have any family." She hesitated a moment, then added, "She never had a family, from what I understand."

"Bullshit!" Shego shouted, then cast a quick glance towards her house before giving Kim an angry glare. "She was adopted by a family in St. Louis when we were 14, a few months before...before the damn comet!" She spat out the last two words.

Kim shook her head. "Shego, there was no family..." she hesitated as she sought the right words, "It was...it was a white slavery sort of thing, she.." She broke of as Shego came to her feet, rage on her face, causing Kim to back up into Drakken, who actually steadied her.

"'A white slavery sort of thing'? What the fuck, Princess! What are you talking about? She was sold, is that what you're saying? By who? _To _who? Start making sense, or so help me..."

Kim was so off balance that she was immediately grateful when Drakken intervened. "Shego! That's enough! At this moment, Kim Possible is not your enemy! In fact, she's doing you a favor, and it can't be easy for her to have come down..."

"I don't care!" After initially recoiling from Drakken's chastisement, Shego quickly went back on the attack, "I want to know what happened to my best friend, I want to know who did such a thing to her, and I want to know how she _died!" _The glare in her eyes was near maniacal, and Kim didn't know what to say to defuse her, but Drakken did.

"If she was your best friend, Shego, why didn't you already know there wasn't a family in St. Louis?" He asked in a reasonable tone, "Didn't you keep in touch with her?"

Shego almost looked as if she'd been gut-punched. Her knees seemed to grow unsteady again, but she pulled herself together, then turned and walked unsteadily towards her house. Kim and Drakken exchanged glances, Kim's with a touch of grudging gratitude in it, then followed Shego.

The thief peered in the front door of her home, then moved away from it, to drop in to a wicker-seated chair. She then regarded Kim dourly. "Now, Princess, tell me who did this, tell me everything!" Her scowl deepened as Kim fidgeted nervously. "Just tell me!" She snapped.

"I can't tell you everything, Shego, because I wasn't told everything." Kim answered with a defiant look. "For a very good reason. Your friend specifically asked that you...she didn't want you avenging her, she was afraid you'd lose control..."

"Well, she's right!" Shego shouted, shooting out of the chair and getting right in Kim's face. A flinch was unavoidable, but Kim stood her ground. Shego seethed with suppressed anger, more then Kim had ever seen before. "So, don't give me some song-and-dance about not knowing! How the hell did you get involved? Why are you here, Possible?!"

"She said she was sorry if you worried, when she disappeared, and she hoped you didn't endanger yourself hunting for her." Kim's words again knocked the anger out of the older woman, who recoiled with a look of anguished guilt. And Kim was pretty sure why.

Shego tried to speak, then swallowed, and finally stammered out "W-who? Who d—did she say these things to?" She again dropped into her chair.

"A nun, a nursing sister in a hospice." Kim broke eye contact, looking down at her feet. "I don't know where, honestly! I wasn't told, so I couldn't tell you. All I know is that the sisters found her left for dead, and did their best to make her comfortable. And someone tried to keep them from carrying out your friend's last wishes, but the sisters got some help..." Kim trailed off indecisively, trying to decide whether she'd said too much.

"Help from who?" Drakken asked the question, Shego just sat listening with a stricken look on her face.

"Jen Paladin and her partner." Kim replied. Shego looked up at the girl and her eyes narrowed slightly. "And they're going to make sure Milly's other request comes true, that it never happens to another child from the orphanage." Then Kim tried to suppress a grimace, she had said something she shouldn't have. _"Still, not sure the revelation matters, if Shego takes action, she'd probably start in the same place anyway! But, now I've given her a better reason to dig deep!"_

Shego sat drumming her fingers on the armrests and nodding for a moment. Then she asked a question, not the one Kim had been expecting, though. "So, who's paying for them to do this, someone has to be, those two work for cash!"

"Compensation." Kim said, then elaborated, "They say they always have to work for compensation. The way they said it, I got the feeling it isn't always money, but they didn't explain."

"I don't care if they get paid in bran muffins!" Shego shot back, "I want know how they're going to 'stop it from happening again'!"

Kim shook her head. "They really didn't tell me how they were going to do it, or where, Shego! My job was just to bring these to you!" She held out the ashes. Shego stared at them as if she'd forgotten them, or expected the box to explode. Then she tentatively reached out and took them. She placed the box in her lap ad just stared at it for a long while before speaking.

"Can you at least tell me what killed her? You said 'white slavery', and that conjures up a certain image." She didn't look up as she asked, just sat running her fingers gingerly over the box and staring at it as if it would provide answers.

Kim briefly wondered if it could. _"Is there any chance she can tell the country it was made in, just by looking at it? I was tempted to have Wade scan it for the same reason, but I decided not to." _Aloud, she answered Shego, "They just said she was used up, Shego, just..used up. In...in a brothel." Kim felt a sharp pang of sympathy at the expression that appeared on Shego's face, one of devastation.

The woman's features contorted, and Kim saw tears forming. "N—nine years in a brothel? Oh, God, Milly, I'm so sorry!" she cried in anguish.

"Six." Kim muttered aloud without meaning to. Then she quickly tried to cover up. "You couldn't have known, Shego." She said in a sympathetic tone. But Shego's face turned suspicious, and anger flickered in her eyes.

"Six?" She queried in a dangerous voice, "Six in the brothel? Then where the hell was she for the first three years?"

Trying to keep her voice steady, Kim replied, "I really don't know, Shego! I mean, I don't think _I_ was supposed to hear that. The nun said it, and Jen looked unhappy. But she didn't say anything about it. I really don't know how much of her story Milly told the nuns before she died, and that's the truth!"

Shego kept her fixed in an angry glare as she sarcastically spat out, "Well, you're not much help, are you? Well, you've done your duty, why don't you get the hell out of my face!"

But Kim's judgment failed her. "Shego, if you didn't look for Milly because you felt resentment that she was adopted instead of you, that's perfectly understandable..."

And Shego was right back up in her face again, knuckles white as she gripped the box. "I...don't...want...your...UNDERSTANDING, _Princess!"_ Kim recoiled, blinking. She'd never expected to here so much venom delivered in Shego's pet name for her. Her mouth worked as she tried to say something, but nothing came out.

Drakken took her arm, steadying her. "I think you should go, Kimberly, if only in the interest of peace. Thank you for doing this for Shego.." The thief shot an angry look at him, which softened as she looked down at what she held. "I know it can't have been easy, and I admit to being mystified at why you were asked." He turned Kim and lead her away as he spoke.

"It's...it...I..." Kim abruptly lapsed into silence. She resisted looking back as Drakken took her as far as the junction of two paths, the one they'd come up, and one running from the patio around to the front of the house. They stopped there, as Drakken looked back towards Shego's house. The thief was out of sight from where they stood.

"I'm going back and talk to her, Kimberly. Go on up to the house. Eva...that's the younger housekeeper, will be leaving soon to pick her children up at school, she can give you a ride to Port Marie. Oh, and I meant what I said, Thank You for doing this, it had to be painful."

"NO Big, Doctor Drakken." Kim replied quietly. She looked back. "She's feeling a lot of guilt, that's something I Never thought she _could _feel!" She looked down at the ground, "Which was totally unfair of me!"

"But understandable." Drakken replied neutrally. "Shego hates having her mistakes pointed out to her, and this counts as one, a very big one! Now, you run along, I've got to get back to her." Then he added as an afterthought, "And no bug planting, it's very annoying!" He said it with a half-hearted smile, which vanished when not a glimmer of one appeared on Kim's face. He ended the awkward silence by turning and heading back down the path.

Kim watched him go, then sighed deeply and started up the path to the patio. She was half tempted to walk back to town, just to give herself some time, but the temptation faded quickly. Instead she marched up to the patio, then turning away from the house, walked to the far railing and pulled out her Kimmunicator.

"Hey Kim." Wade greeted her when his image had resolved on the screen. "What's up?"

Kim hesitated slightly before replying. "Wade, do you have a means of tracking Shego's plane? I mean, I know you can track Drakken's hovercraft, but what about Shego's jet?"

"Well, um...yeah, I can track it, Kim. But why?"

Kim didn't answer the question directly when she replied. "Set me up for a trip to Go City, Wade. Shego's heading there too, I'd like to know whether I get there first or not." As Wade acknowledged, she looked back in the direction of Shego's house. _"This may not have been what they asked me to do, but I wonder if the expected it?"_ A moment of doubt passed through her mind, but she ignored it. _"Go City, here I come!"_

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Please Read and Review


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.

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Ron Stoppable maintained total focus on his computer screen long after he became aware his mother had come up the stairs into his attic room. He knew he was being petty, but truthfully it was as far as he'd go in expressing his displeasure about his situation. And that was mainly because he recognized some justice in the punishment they'd bestowed upon them. And yes, he even saw an underlying motive. One he couldn't entirely see as a bad idea. Except he wouldn't be there if Kim needed him.

He saved his history paper and straightened up, arching his back to try and get the tightness out of his shoulders and back. Then he turned his head to look at his mom. But he couldn't bring himself to make her speak first. "Yes Mom?"

"Ronald, I want to talk to you about a few things you may not know about all this." She held a hand up to forestall Ron speaking. "And I realize you're smart enough to have figured part of it out, but trust me, not all of it." She sat down on Ron's bed. Ron turned around to face her fully, looking warily curious.

Jean Stoppable took a long moment to choose her words, despite having rehearsed some of what she planned to say. "Well, I suppose I'll start with a question. Ron, do you know why I'm so mad about what happened?"

Ron dropped his eyes, flushing guiltily as he nodded. "Yes Ma'am." He replied quietly. "And I have no excuse for what I did here."

He didn't see his mother blink, then shift uneasily as she actually realized she was sitting on Ron's bed, the scene of...she cleared her throat. "I believe you do, Ron. Know why I'm so mad, that is! But tell me, do you know why your father is so mad?"

Now Ron looked up, blinking in confusion. "Be—because I disrespected you, doing that in your home, after you raised me..." He trailed off, frowning as he his mother started shaking her head. "Then...what?"

She sighed, folding her hands in her lap. "Ron, your father and I have made a habit of not sharing our...anxieties with you. We tried to make sure your life was never affected by any stress we were under. Sometimes that took quite an effort, let me tell you. As an example, do you know the real reason we didn't tell you we were trying to adopt a baby sister for you?"

Ron smiled and nodded. "You thought I might get excited by the idea, and be disappointed when it didn't happen."

His mother smiled back as she nodded in return. "Exactly. But tell me, why did you choose to make it such a drama in your story?"

Ron sort of half-shrugged. "Because it was funnier that way?"

Jean rolled her eyes. "That figures!" Then she became serious again. "Ron, when you began to follow Kim on these missions of hers, we saw the impossibility of denying you. You'd been friends for so long, and despite an occasional 'glitch', you were good for each other. So there was never any point in trying to talk you out of it, we just hid our concerns and let you go."

Ron smiled at that, but his face betrayed his continued puzzlement. "But then something else happened, something entirely different." His mother continued, "And that something was...Yamanouchi."

Now Ron's eyes widened, as his head recoiled slightly, almost as if he'd been lightly slapped. "Yamanouchi? I...I know that whole thing was a bit of a surprise..."

His mother gave him look. "Understate much?" She asked sarcastically. Then she shook her head. "Ronald, that was more than just a 'surprise'! The whole thing was surreal, but at the same time real, and something we were quickly convinced we had no control over." She paused for emphasis, "None at all."

When Ron couldn't muster a response, she continued. "We had some long talks with people from Yamanouchi, including their local representative, the man who removed Yori the other night. They explained that what had happened to you was something no one had control over, but that to make sure you survived what you would be going through, we had to surrender some control, some say in your life."

She rose and began to pace, wringing her hands. "So, if they wanted you to come to Japan, you would go to Japan. If you didn't want to for any reason, your father and I had to do our part to convince you to go, no matter how we personally felt about it. And that just didn't sit well with your father at all. And truthfully, I don't think it ever will, but don't expect him to ever show a hint of that to you. At least, not again. What you have seen the last day or so from him is mostly fueled by that resentment."

She saw understanding dawning in Ron's eyes, and continued. "So, it wasn't just that an older woman was sneaking into our home to seduce you for her own amusement..." Ron flinched, but he knew that the words were truer then he now felt comfortable with, "Or that she was probably your first..." Ron's guilty flush seemed to confirm that in her eyes, "But who she represented. Yamanouchi, intruding into yet another facet of your life, and an important one." She held his gaze for a moment, seeing that he understood. "And, she was setting a bad example, maybe making you think that sex should be 'risky', or whatever word you choose to use." She shrugged apologetically, "Had to throw that last one in, it's a 'mother' thing!"

Ron nodded, face thoughtful, and a bit concerned. "I think...or maybe I wasn't thinking? I never even asked how you felt about the whole Yamanouchi sitch, did I? Score one for Stoppable, taking things for granted!"

"Well, you probably saved us the need to equivocate, Dear." His mother replied, "Since as I said, we needed you to do what they recommended, so we probably couldn't have been completely honest with you. You have a habit of getting stubborn about things, and we wouldn't have wanted you suddenly not wanting to go along with Yamanouchi."

"Why don't you think I won't get 'stubborn' now?" Ron asked, a slight scowl on his face.

His mother smiled wanly. "Because I think you know better than to do so, Dear. I can't pretend to understand this 'power' you're connected to, but I'm told that once you were connected, there was no turning your back on it."

Ron was silent for several minutes as she patiently waited for him to sort his thoughts out. When he finally spoke, however, he seemed to have chosen to change the subject. "What I'm really mad about is not being with Kim, watching her back, helping her out..."

"I know Ron." Jean assured him sympathetically, "But I think that this short period apart will help insure that no longer separations occur later." When he looked up curiously, she smiled. "I don't just want you to graduate, Ron. I think you already have the grades for that. But the grades necessary to go to college, as Kim will?"

Ron grinned ruefully. "I know, Mom. And I _do_ want to go to college with Kim, more than anything! But to tell the truth if you hadn't 'grounded' me, I would have put being with her ahead of making the grades, so I do realize that this might be good for me. But, what if the timing's all wrong? What if something serious happens...but that's the point, the only time the timing would be 'good' would be if Kim herself was out of action, and that's something I never want to see!"

Jean took a quick glance at her wristwatch. "Ron, the best you can do is hope that nothing happens between now and graduation that Kim can't handle herself, or maybe with the help of Global Justice." Ron started to say something, but his mother didn't notice, as she continued briskly, "Now, I Have to be somewhere, and I still need to get Hana ready! Work on your homework, Ron, and maybe you can spend Sunday with Kim!" She accompanied that advice with a bright smile, then turned and left.

Ron leaned his head on one elbow and sighed, scowling. "Sunday! If Kim is even around, I have no idea where she is, right now!"

"Go City."

Ron shot straight out of his chair, teeth clenched, expression shocked, as the voice sounded from his computer. Then he got his breathing under control. "Wade! Man, don't scare me like that!" He stopped the chair spinning, then flopped back down in it. He made a face when he heard the boy genius chuckling. "Dude, I forgot you were even there! Did you find what I asked? And why is KP in Go City?"

"Yes to the first, Ron, I have a site address where you can find what you need. And I haven't a clue about the second, though I know Kim called GJ a few hours ago. First she went down to Isle Drakkon, without telling me what she was doing there, and you can guess how worried I was about _that!_ Then she calls me and asks me to arrange a flight to Go City. All I do know is it started with Jen Paladin and her partner, they wanted Kim to do something concerning Shego."

"Then she may be going to Go to talk to Shego's family." Ron suggested. He pressed a key, and his homework disappeared, to be replaced by Wade's thoughtful expression.

"Maybe, Ron." He said doubtfully, "At least that makes some sense."

"Well, what about this Paladin lady, can you find out where she's been lately, and try and see if it connects to Drakken and Shego somehow?"

Wade made a face. "Ron, I can't find out _anything_ useful about her! Except she took the name 'Paladin' about eight years ago, but I can't find out what her name was before that! She lives in New Mexico, and has a lot of money, but beyond that, _nothing!_ I can't trace her movements, except possibly by her passport. Well, except I stay out of those databases these days, Kim's orders! So, no joy there."

Ron had a sour look on his face. "I hate this sitch more and more, Wade! I don't like Kim running around without someone watching her back!" He calmed a bit, "Even though I've been responsible for her going solo a few times before. And like I told my Mom, the grades are important, I don't think I passed last year by much."

Wade rolled his eyes. "Trust me, Ron, you didn't!"

Ron blinked in surprise, then smiled tentatively. "Come on, I wasn't really that close to failing, was I?" When he saw Wade cringe a bit, his smile faded and his eyes widened. "How close?" He asked warily.

"Um, lets put it this way.." Wade's smile seemed very forced, "Until your last exam grade came in, they already had your seat at summer school reserved."

"Oh..." Ron responded in a small voice. Then he clapped his hands together and flexed his fingers. "Back to work! Now where was I? Oh, yeah, the Spanish American War!" He made a face. "Guess there was more to it then Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, wasn't there?"

Wade smiled. "Yeah, there were a few other people involved." he replied dryly.

"Heh..."

00000000000

The gray skies over Go City matched Shego's mood perfectly as she sat behind the wheel of a car borrowed from and old friend and beheld a place she would rather have never seen again in her life, the Crescent Street Orphanage.

It was situated on the shore of the Bay Go City itself stretched around, with Crescent Street on it's inland side, and the unimaginatively named Bay Drive, a two-lane road, on the bay side. Shego remembered that they had been forbidden to cross Bay Drive without adult supervision, a rule she and Milly had broken a few times in the four years they knew each other. There was good reason for the rule, the shore was all rocks, which were treacherous to walk on, especially when wet. One orphan had drowned during Shego's time here, apparently after falling and hitting his head, then falling into the water. And he hadn't been the first in the orphanage's history to die in the bay waters.

The building itself enclosed a large paved area on three sides, with the opening on the landward side. Parking for the staff was to Shego's left as she studied the edifice, while a basketball court, much patched, took up the right side. The dormitories were on the north and south ends, four stories tall each, made of rough bricks of various shades of gray, with small windows which didn't open.

Across the bay side, the dormitories were joined by the administration wing, which was only two stories tall. It contained offices and classrooms, as well as some storerooms and the access to the building's aging boilers. Education through grade school occurred on the premises, while Middle and High school level were taught at city schools, both within convenient walking distance. If Shego had made the effort, she could have seen at least a part of both institutions from where she sat, though they were both in opposite directions.

The baleful glare on her face betrayed her dislike for the place, and the necessity of having to return here. But the trail she needed to follow began here, she was almost sure of it. _"Mind you, I could have tried shaking down some of the local crooks in hope of getting some info, but at the moment I'm not sure what I'd be asking about. Possible let slip that Milly was somewhere for three years before ending up in that brothel..." _Her mind drifted off course briefly as she wondered whether the people she'd asked to examine the box containing Milly's ashes could determine it's place of origin, but then returned to her immediate problem. _"Someone should have known if the adoption was a fake, someone either wasn't doing their job, or they were the ones who 'sold' Milly!"_

Those thoughts caused her to grip the steering wheel hard, but when she felt her plasma stirring in reaction to her anger, she clamped down on it immediately. _"Can't lose control! Milly wouldn't...Milly _didn't_ want me to get into trouble over this, I can at least try and stick to the spirit of that wish." _But then her gaze darkened and her jaw tightened. _"Of course, if they never find the body, I won't be in any trouble, will I?"_

Resolved, she exited the car. The threat of rain at least afforded an excuse to wear a coat with an upturned collar, and a hat with the brim pulled low. Making sure both were set to her satisfaction, she checked traffic in both directions, then took a step into the street. Only to stop suddenly, and step back.

"_I should take care of Milly's ashes first." _She thought reluctantly, _"Once I get on this trail, I may forget all about doing that, and I don't want to let her down...again!"_ She turned back and went around to the trunk of the car. Opening it, she then opened her overnight bag, and pulled out the container of ashes. Tucking it under one arm, she closed her bag and the car trunk, then checked traffic again, before striding across the street, but this time directing her course to go around the orphanage on it's south side.

Head down, she never saw the taxi pass her and pull into the orphanage's parking area, or see Kim Possible emerge from it. Though by that time, the taxi was blocked from her sight as she strode briskly towards Bay Drive.

00000000000

Kim stopped as soon as she was out of the taxi to look over the orphanage. She had her bag slung over her shoulder and her Kimmunicator holstered on one hip. The fitful wind swirled in the courtyard, shielded as it was by the dormitory to the north. It still had a bite to it, and Kim was glad she'd packed a pair of jeans and her denim jacket along with her tropical outfit.

"_So this is where Shego grew up."_ she mused. It was a grim looking place, with only some ivy clinging to the walls to give it any color, and at this time of year that was pitifully little. The blacktop she stood on looked like it hadn't been wholly repaved in years, just repeatedly patched. She was a little puzzled by the lack of any children outside playing on a Saturday, though. She wondered how many were currently staying here. _"Guess I could have had Wade check the municipal records, but never thought about it."_

Then she heard a faint noise from inside the central part of the building, which she thought might be muffled laughter. A lot of laughter. Curious, she headed for the double doors in the center of the wing. Once inside, the sound of a crowd led her to the right, and she soon saw the hallway full of kids of all ages trying to get a look through a pair of open double doors, obviously the spillover from a crowd that filled the inside of the room beyond. There were some exceptions, who were ignoring the crowd and whatever interested them. Some were in little groups of two or three, some alone. _"I sense a 'mandatory-attendance' sitch!" _Kim mused.

A single adult was in the hall, at least on Kim's side of the crowd, probably in charge of enforcing said attendance. She was about thirty, conservatively dressed and obviously a little bored, leaning back against the wall to Kim's left, eyes focused on a spot on the opposite wall, thoughts obviously a mile away. Kim steered towards her as another outburst of laughter came from inside the room. There had been no voices preceding it, so Kim knew they weren't listening to a speech of stand-up act. And no music, either. But Kim suppressed her curiosity and focused on the woman.

She looked up as Kim approached, frowning slightly at first, then shifting to a smile, then a frown again as she studied Kim's face. She wasn't the only one, a couple of the others not interested in whatever was going on had also noticed her. Kim soon saw recognition in some of their faces, including the woman.

"You're...Kim Possible?" The woman tentatively asked.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could talk to someone in charge, who's been here for..eight, nine years?" Kim responded with a smile.

"Oh! Um..." the woman glanced towards the crowd, "That would be Mrs Kenneally, and right now, it'd be pretty hard to get her out of there! But, if you wait until the Wegos are finished, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes?" She shrugged apologetically.

Kim's eyes had widened slightly. "The Wegos? Maybe they could...tell you what, I'll come back in a half hour or so, could you tell Mrs Kenneally? And if you get a chance, mention it to the Wegos, too, maybe they'll stay and I can speak with them."

The woman hesitated, then nodded. "I'll let them know, if I can! If you're looking for a place to get some lunch, or a late breakfast, there's a Cow'n Chow just a block north of here."

Kim made a face. "Not my first choice, but I just might!" She smiled. "Thanks for your help, I appreciate it!" When the woman nodded, actually blushing a bit, Kim turned and started back towards the front doors. But just past them on the opposite side was the entrance to another corridor, and out of curiosity about the place in general, Kim went the few extra steps and looked down it. There were two doors on either side, but what drew her attention was the set of glass-paned double doors at the far end, through which she could see the bay.

Kim walked down the hall to get a better view, and saw a few white caps on the water, which had a pewter appearance beneath the gray skies. A Coast Guard patrol cutter was visible moving at cruising speed, and a couple of small cargo vessels, around which darted a few sailboats taking advantage of the weather for a good ride.

There were a few people visible, most of them apparently fishing. One couple was moving away to the north, the girl's head leaning on her companion's shoulder. But then Kim's eyes focused on one solitary figure, and her gaze narrowed...

00000000000

Shego clutched the container of ashes close to her body as she struggled to order her thoughts. And her emotions. Something was simply _wrong_ with how she felt, and it was vexing her. It wasn't the first time she'd questioned her feelings, either. And the number of times had been increasing lately. But this time gave the clearest indication that something was _wrong!_

Because she knew she should be feeling grief freely, but every time it welled up, something pushed it back down, and that made no sense at all to her! She had loved Milly like a sister, she'd been devastated to have her leave, but she'd hidden it at the time, she thought quite well. Grief, guilt, neither was manifesting, yet she knew it _should_!

She turned to look back at the orphanage looming behind her, then just to it's north, where a scattering of trees stood. One stood separately, surrounded by a low fence, with a metal sign proclaiming it the site of the birth of Team Go. Her expression soured as she studied it, remembering it as it had been before the tree house, before the 'comet'. _"Henry wanted to build that thing so badly, and he got the others all excited about it, too!" _Then she paused thoughtfully. _"I wonder...what would have happened if Milly had still been here, and invited up there with us? I think she would have kept me from leaving, if anything could have!"_

Shego lost focus as memories returned to her. Taking care of the twins, Franklin and Theodore, had been the primary focus of her life from age eight to eleven. Then Milly had shown up. Shego had had three previous roommates, all of whom had been adopted, and was disinclined to bond with anyone new, but her resistance had crumbled quickly when she met Milly. And Milly had seen her at her best with the twins, and her worst when another orphan had killed herself by leaping from the roof of the North dorm onto the blacktop, with Shego standing less then a dozen feet from where she impacted.

"_And I just let her go, I resented her finding a family, another family, because I wanted her to be part of _my_ family! I never even bothered to learn the name of the family that adopted her! I went through St. Louis right after I split from Team Go, I could have looked her up! Or wondered why she never wrote me. But no, I just decided she'd forgotten me, and I should have known better!"_

"Shego, be careful, or you're going to burn it!" The quiet, urgent warning sent a shock through Shego as her head snapped up and around to behold Kim Possible standing only ten feet away, then down to the container in her hands, shock widening her eyes as she saw scorch marks on the wood. She shuddered as her self-pity and rage lost it's grip on her, and suddenly, spontaneously, she stepped towards Kim and shoved the ashes into her hands, then backed away, hugging herself. It was all she could do to steady her trembling legs, and not have to sit down on the nearest rock.

It took her a full five minutes to regain control of herself. Kim stood there awkwardly, trying to look everywhere but at Shego, though she found something to focus on when she spotted the infamous tree, and frowned in puzzlement for a moment before guessing what the distant sign said, and the purpose of the fence.

Shego was able to just study the teen for a moment while she was distracted. She should have reacted angrily to Kim's presence, but her anger was having trouble reigniting after her self-targeted rage had been washed away by the flash of guilt. Guilt both for nearly incinerating the box with Milly's ashes, and for getting caught by surprise by Kim.

"Why are you here, Possible?" She finally asked, in as neutral a tone as Kim had ever heard from Shego's lips.

Kim's attention came back to Shego, her mouth opening to give a quick reply, only to close as she met the thief's eyes. She hesitated, then looked at the object in her hands. "I had to do something." She said quietly. "I couldn't _not_ do something!"

Shego blinked, then cast her eyes down. "What do you think you can do?" She asked, tone still neutral.

Kim's response was a while in coming. "If nothing else, try and make her last wish come true, and keep you from ruining your life completely avenging her." She finally said, raising her eyes to meet Shego's.

"And you think you can do that?" Shego asked, a touch of surprise in her voice.

"I don't know anyone else who possibly could." Kim replied firmly.

Shego was silent a moment, then held her hands out, and Kim gave her the ashes back. The thief turned and stepped out onto the rocky breakwater, while Kim stayed put, clasping her hands in front of her, head slightly bowed. She raised it again at the sound of Shego's voice.

"So, if I pursue this, and you know I will, you'll be right behind me, trying to stop me, is that it?" Shego kept her back to Kim, and her tone impassive.

"Yep." Was all Kim said.

Shego was silent for a moment, though she nodded thoughtfully. She then spoke again. "I couldn't _not_ do something, either, Possible. And getting between me and whoever did this to Milly, whoever was responsible in any way for this happening, _might_ just be the most dangerous things you've ever done, do you take my meaning?"

Kim nodded as she replied, even though Shego's back was still to her. "Yes, I understand."

Another long silence before Shego broke it. "Fine, we'll find these people together, but once we do, no promises, absolutely no guarantees, Possible, understood?"

Kim paused briefly, then nodded resolutely. "Understood. And understand me, no matter how horrific what was done to your friend was, and neither of us truly knows how bad it was, I will not let you kill anyone for vengeance, or cripple them. I will stop you from going too far, no matter what it takes."

Shego now turned to face her, and their eyes met, both gazes absolutely steady. After a long moment, Shego nodded. "Understood, Possible. So be it. But also understand, if you deny me my just vengeance, I may never, ever forgive or forget, and you may still pay a price later at my hands."

* * *

Leaving it there, to post a shorter chapter than usual.

For now, Please Read and Review


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories. Thanks to Screaming Phoenix, Neihaera, and King in Yellow for their reviews of the last chapter.

* * *

Doctor Betty Director, head of Global Justice's North American division, was in a foul mood. Not because she'd just had a new headache dumped in her lap by none other than Kim Possible, to go along with the stress of trying to direct three other major operations at once, however. Oddly, being given a fresh problem had been a relief of sorts, the other three investigations had been drawn out by the usual bureaucratic considerations meant to prevent GJ treading on any sensitive local toes. The current three seemed to belong in her top five biggest red-tape headaches of all time, and the first person to mention the saying 'they always come in threes' would seriously regret it.

But she'd just gotten off the phone with the agent supervising one of those operations, to find out that the Justice Department had switched their own top man for some reason, and the newcomer had postponed everything while he was brought up to speed and reviewed the personnel involved. She'd managed not to vent her frustration on her agent, a trait she practiced that her people appreciated greatly.

Right now, though, Kim's little problem wouldn't have been the first thing to occupy her attention, if it weren't for the appearance of her aide, Abby Hogan, who entered Betty's office after a perfunctory knock. "Well, I've done the best I could," Abby began without preamble, "And this is what I think we can spare to look into this problem in Go City." She handed a Betty a sheet of paper with a list of names on it.

Betty studied the list while she replied. "We're _not_ looking into the matter in Go City, we _are_ assembling a liaison team to coordinate with the local FBI, pending more substantial proof that people have been involved in international white slavery, at which time we can conduct a joint investigation with American authorities, or engage in one of our own." She paused, then read aloud from the list. "John Bannicross, Will Du, Brenda Core, Emmett Waller, Kelli Lindell? That's three agents with limited, or nonexistent, field experience, two of whom are regular watch keepers in our Operations Room."

Abby shrugged. "Like I said, that's what we can spare, unless we pull some field people from the other cases. At least Bannicross is an experienced team leader."

Betty nodded grudgingly. "Well, that's true," She admitted, "And he has a good record for dealing with other agencies. Who specifically is he dealing with in Chicago, as far as the FBI is concerned?"

Abby closed her eyes briefly, recalling the information. "Everett Deal, 19 years with the Bureau. Generally regarded as a good supervisor. But, there are rumors about headline coveting. Suggestions of one or two internal reprimands. Been Special Agent in Charge in Go City for last two years. Low opinion of local police force, lower opinion of Team Go. May use any excuse to avoid tying his agents up on anything connected to the local crop of super-villains. I mean, Federal crimes he can't avoid, but anything borderline..." She shrugged dismissively.

Betty was silent as she tapped her pencil on the desk top. Then she picked up the list again and handed it to Abby. "Approved, get them kitted out and moving, find out if they can carry US Marshal ID for this one."

"Shouldn't have any trouble there, we haven't given them any reason to regret letting us do it before." Abby replied. "Now on another subject, what do you think Kim Possible is doing right now?"

Betty gave her a look suggesting the change of topic was not welcome, then sighed. "I'd like to know why Paladin involved her in the first place!" She pushed her chair back and stood up, stepping over to the bank of monitors on one wall and scanning them as she continued, "The idea of her taking those ashes to Shego...have we checked the official adoption records for that girl, Millicent Whitlock?"

Abby's look soured. "Yes, and someone slipped up badly. The family that supposedly adopted her doesn't exist. Which suggests that someone who approved the adoption was a party to this white slavery, or was deceived, which wouldn't explain the lack of at least a cursory background check. And...we found five other similar adoptions in the records for the Crescent Street Orphanage, going back eleven years, and that was just with a cursory check of our own."

Betty didn't turn from her scrutiny of the monitors as she responded, "Well, I think a more in-depth check is called for, provided the resources can be spared from our priority projects."

Abby grimaced. "Well, not really, unless we hold back Lindell or Core from the team, and have them run the check. Or..." She trailed off expectantly, and sure enough Betty turned to regard her curiously. She smiled half-heartedly. "Or we can have Wade Load pass along his findings, he's definitely running a similar search for Kim."

That brought a scowl to Betty's face. "She's getting involved in this, isn't she?" She asked rhetorically, "Which should surprise no one!" She stood silently, jaw clenched, for nearly a minute. Then she flung her hands up, and then grabbed the back of her chair and squeezed until her knuckles whitened. "I thought...she's just not equating this with the people she fought in the Caribbean, is she? That maybe she's not ready for this sort of thing? But who am I to judge, she seems to have weathered her experiences last summer without any great trauma!" She released her grip and fell silent, face set in a frown of concentration.

"As far as we know." Abby remarked quietly. "But you're worried about her, aren't you?"

Betty snorted, shaking her head. "She's a hard person not to care about, isn't she? I almost have the parental desire to put a stop to her adventuring, can you imagine that?"

A hint of sarcasm crept into the last, but Abby just smiled. "Better be careful, boss, or you're going to get all mopey on me." As Betty shot her a glare, she became serious. "Imagine what it's like for her parents, Betts? Letting her find her own way, and she chooses a path like this? And not being able to hypocritically rein her in now? Well, they don't know the truth about what happened last summer, she hasn't even told Ron how serious it became!"

Betty didn't reply at first, considering whether to reveal a secret to her aide. But then she nodded slightly. "I have it on good authority that Shego has been almost obsessed with the footage from that day that was recorded by Drakken's surveillance cameras. The fighting, especially. For some reason, she almost sent a copy of some of it, or some footage from the prison cameras, to Kim's parents! But then didn't, now why do you suppose she'd do a thing like that?"

Abby shrugged. "Mess with Kim? Get her parents upset, so maybe they'd ground her?"

Betty shook her head. "I don't buy it. Shego has had the opportunities and the means of getting Kim out of her hair for a long time, either permanently or temporarily, through injury, death, or other less injurious methods, and she hasn't. Doctor Pryor, among others, thinks she relishes having Kim around as an opponent." She referred to the head psychiatric resident for this base. "So, why try and get her grounded now?"

"Guilt?" Abby suggested, "She owes Kim her life, and that probably doesn't sit well with her. So, she tries to eliminate any possibility of having to spare Kim? In a fight, or..." She trailed off, frowning. After a moment, she resumed tentatively. "Unless she thinks that by getting Kim grounded, she might actually be discharging that debt, saving Kim's life in theory? Is my imagination running away with me, because that sounds totally whack! And certainly not like Shego as we know her!"

"Ah, but do we really know Shego as well as we thought we did, Abby?" Betty replied with a question, one that had bothered her for quite a long time. "We know her past, as far as what's recorded on paper, but do we know the woman herself?"

Betty's intercom buzzed. "Yes, Grace?"

"Will Du here to see you, Ma'am, and the answer to your earlier inquiry came back as affirmative."

Betty rolled her eye. "Very well, Grace, send Agent Du in in a minute, all right?" She took her finger off the key and gave Abby a sour look. "Grace gave me the code for 'And he's got that air of insufferable smugness', I wonder what he's found?"

"We'll know in a minute." Abby replied, "So, Grace can discern between his normal smugness, and the 'insufferable' level?" She added with a smirk.

Betty gave her a smug smile back. "Not just in him, Abby."

Abby's brow furrowed, and she regarded Betty suspiciously, but any reply was prevented by Du's entrance. Doctor Director, face serious again, regarded him coolly. "Well, Mister Du, what have you found?"

Will of course braced to attention as he responded. "I discovered a previous inquiry involving Millicent Whitlock in our files, Ma'am."

Long practice allowed Betty to limit her response to a slightly raised eyebrow. "Really? In what...ah! Did we seek her out in regards to obtaining background information on Shego?"

Abby hid a grin as Will deflated slightly. His response was still crisp, however. "Yes, Ma'am, that's exactly it. The investigating agent at the time discovered that the family that supposedly adopted the girl did not exist. His report doesn't say what steps he took after discovering this."

Now a serious scowl formed on Betty's face. "I don't like such an omission in an official report, Mister Du, who was the investigating agent?"

"Frank Durham, Ma'am, now working out of our West Coast base." Will replied, then added, "Ma'am, with regards to the rough time line we have concerning Miss Whitlock, relayed to us secondhand by Miss Possible, the incident may coincide with her move from Go City overseas to where she died."

"Damn!" Abby muttered. The grim look on Betty's face showed her own feelings clearly. She rose again, but just stood at her desk, before shaking her head.

"The two incidents aren't necessarily related, but I'd like you to set up a little talk with Agent Durham, Abby." She waited for Abby's nod of acknowledgment, then addressed Will again. "Have we found anything to indicate exactly which country we are talking about?"

Will's face set in the impassive expression with which he always gave bad news to superiors. "Other than to narrow it to Central or South America, Ma'am, no."

Betty's face was equally impassive as she replied. "Have them keep working on it. You may go, Agent Du. And mention to whomever is trying to discover the answer that Miss Paladin may have private transportation that we have difficulty tracking, but she generally goes through customs normally, contact the State Department about her passport use of late."

When Will had gone, she turned back to her aide. "I doubt we were the cause of Miss Whitlock's final fate, she wasn't the only victim of this racket! But find out who Durham talked to about it. And he damned well had better have made _some_ inquiry, or passed it on!"

00000000000

"_Ashes on the water, all that's left of her..." _Shego stood in melancholy contemplation as she watched the ashes she'd solemnly cast from the container float briefly on the top of the water before vanishing. She blinked back tears as the breeze swept some stray hair across her face. _"Well, I've done as you wanted, Milly, but why the hell did it have to be so soon!" _She flared her plasma, deliberately incinerating the small container in her hands. Then she winced and looked around. _"Great! Draw attention to yourself, why don't you! This will be hard enough to pull off with Possible looking over my shoulder, I don't need the cops after me, too!"_

But none of the handful of people in sight appeared to have noticed her display, all seemingly wrapped up in their own business. Or..."_Could Possible have brought some back-up from GJ? Now trying _too_ hard not to notice?" _The suspicion took root quickly, but Shego abruptly shook her head. _"Possible doesn't work like that, and would have no reason to keep it secret that I can see" _Then a wary scowl crossed her features, and she looked at the water lapping against the rocks she stood on.

"_How does someone go from being your best friend, to forgotten, ignored, just like that? When she was adopted, I was resentful, but I still missed her. But then, after the 'comet', it was as if...what?" _Her expression darkened further. _"Why don't I think of the times I was actually happy in this place? With Milly, the twins? Yeah, even with the doofus? What keeps those thoughts, those memories, out of my head?"_

She concentrated for a moment, remembering a time playing with the twins. _"We watched 'Sesame Street' with the other younger children, it had to be a __school holiday, I was about twelve.." _Then another memory intruded, her having a laugh at the expense of the _Sureté, _having pulled off a theft right under their noses...she shook her head violently. _"That's happened before! Memories of my childhood, happy ones, overridden in my head by ones from my criminal career!"_

She took a quick glance to where Kim stood, head slightly bowed, on the grass strip between Bay Drive and the rocky shore._ "Is she praying for Milly's soul? She might be. Just as well someone is, I don't feel like I can ask much from God these days." _She looked up at the sky. Rain was definitely on the agenda, it was time to stop musing and get going. _"Going to where, is the question! If I actually meet the guy responsible for what happened to Milly, what am I going to do? Most likely, something Possible will try and stop! And then what, how far am I willing to go? What really worries me right now is that I don't know the answer, I've never had this much doubt about my intentions before."_

Kim was lost in her own thoughts. She'd heard someone say once that you couldn't start thinking about your enemies as human beings, or you'd lose your edge against them. She'd rejected that notion out of hand, yet...how had she thought of Shego all this time, that seeing the villainess so human and vulnerable disquieted her so much?

"Hey!" Kim started, and looked up to see Shego approaching, having gotten far closer unnoticed then Kim was comfortable with. "Just how are you planning to go about this, Princess?" The older woman asked, spreading her arms wide in an all-encompassing gesture. "You do have a plan, I assume?"

Kim drew in a deep breath to calm herself, because Shego's tone was nettling, goading. Then she gestured towards the orphanage. "I need to talk to someone there to get some information that might point us at whoever helped rig your friend's adoption."

"Why don't you have Nerdlinger look it all up on his computer?" The tone was only a trifle more pleasant this time. For Shego, that is.

"Because there's something that's not in the public records, that's why." Kim replied with forced calm, "He already found that there have been several adoptions where the family receiving the child was bogus, Shego. Seven so far, besides your friend. The question is why no one ran the usual background check on the adopting family. Either someone important in that Orphanage, or maybe Go City Child Services, is in league with whoever hurt those children, or someone inside was deceived by someone they, or the orphanage as an institution, trusted."

Shego pursed her lips as she scowled towards the orphanage building. "And you think you'll get the answer just by walking in and asking?" She asked skeptically.

"It can't hurt to ask one person, someone in charge." Kim replied, "I know that's just the sort of person we need to suspect, but I don't intend to come right out and tell them about Milly, unless I think it'll do some good. The woman I'll be talking to is a Mrs Kenneally, was she around then?"

Shego's look soured considerably. "Yeah, she was here then..." She mumbled, "And I hated her! But, to be..._fair, _I think she's an honest woman. Feh!" She snorted, "Imagine me being a judge of someone's 'good' character!" She stared at the building again. "Not sure how she'd feel to see me again."

That caused Kim to remember something. "Oh! By the way, your brothers are here.." Kim saw Shego's eyes widen in shock, then almost immediately narrow in suspicion, "Well, the twins are, not the older two." Kim hastily amended. That caused Shego to shoot a glance at the building, suspicion changing to a confused mix of emotions. Kim thought she saw fear, hope, and worry chase each other across her face.

"Um.." Shego wet her lips nervously as she wavered, "In that case...in that case, I don't think I'll go in with you!" She said a bit louder then she intended, causing her to actually blush slightly. Then a thought struck her, and she rummaged in one pocket, as Kim watched curiously. Finally she pulled out a compact with a blue and white marbled finish and gold fittings. She handed it to Kim, after fiddling with it briefly. "Take that with you, so I can hear what happens."

Kim studied it briefly, then handed it back, shaking her head. "No. If you were to hear something important, you could just take off without me, Shego."

A look of outrage appeared on Shego's face. "WHAT! What's the matter with you? Can't you just trust..." Her outburst was choked off abruptly as she clamped her mouth shut and blushed deeply as she actually realized what she was saying. Then she caught sight of something behind Kim, towards the orphanage, and a panicked look appeared on her face. She looked about frantically as if for somewhere to hide, but there was nowhere but the bay itself. Then she seized control of herself. Tugging the brim of her hat down as far as she dared, she whispered urgently to Kim. "My car's across the street from the front of the orphanage, Blue '08 Mustang, meet me there afterwards!" Then she walked hurriedly away.

Thrown off by these very un-Shegolike antics, Kim still was able to correctly guess what she'd see when she turned around. The Wegos had emerged from the same door she had, and were walking towards her. Or rather, stopped to let some traffic pass by on Bay Drive before crossing over to where she was. With one last intrigued look at Shego, Kim started over to meet them. Her mind began to list the things she wanted to ask them, and she wondered how much she could ask about Shego's past.

As Shego walked away her emotions were roiling within her so much she almost became physically ill. There were conflicting desires with regard to the Wegos, on the one hand the strong desire to turn and go back and embrace them, striving vainly against another desire, to put as much distance between her and the weakness they represented as possible.

Then there were the conflicting feelings about Possible. On one hand, she wanted to leave the girl, strike out on her own and find the vengeance she craved. But that was balanced by a practical consideration. Kim could talk to people Shego couldn't. Shego could threaten or intimidate the same people, but that might not work, and would soon draw more attention to her then she desired. And going through the people in question was preferable to seeking the answers in Go City's underworld, for several reasons.

Firstly was her past in Go City. It was the one place where her hard-earned reputation was negated by memories of her time as an uncertain teen 'heroine'. She had to try too hard to be taken seriously in this town. Secondly, and more important, the people she sought might get advanced warning of her coming through the same people she'd have to deal with.

And right now, a distinctly different concern about Kim was dominant in her mind, what information she might glean from the twins about Shego's past. And the possibility that somehow she'd involve them in this business which the thief now realized was the thing that worried her most. Their presence would completely negate her chance to gain revenge, she knew without doubt she'd never act out her plans with them present as witnesses. Possible's feelings and opinion of her she couldn't care less about, but the boys...

Then she heard something that eased those concerns considerably, and risked a quick glance back. Carried on the breeze came the tones of the Team Go emergency signal. She saw one of the boys, Ted she would have bet, cast his eyes heavenwards while spreading his arms in what was probably a 'why now' gesture, as his brother Franklin answered the call on his wrist communicator. Shego idly wondered if they were the same cut-rate models the City had bought for them all those years ago, or whether they'd sprung for tougher and more reliable versions some time since.

After just a few moments, she saw the pair exchange glances, and apparently apologize to Kim. Then Shego flinched as a sedan shot past her, a blue light flashing from it's windshield. It skidded to a halt, and the Wegos climbed in immediately. The car promptly accelerated away, leaving Kim standing at the curb, shoulders slightly slumped.

"_Why so disappointed, Kimmie? Lost a chance to get some dirt on me?" _Shego thought as she turned and walked away again, a slight smirk on her face. Then a slight frown appeared. There was an outside chance Kim could have actually wanted to ask the Wegos something pertinent to the hunt, though Shego personally doubted it. Still, anything that sped the process up...she shook her head. One way or another, Kim would find something, Shego had faith..._"HUH?"_

Crossing Bay Drive, Kim dismissed her brief disappointment at the lost opportunity, and concentrated on planning what she'd ask Mrs Kenneally, and perhaps more important, _how_ she'd ask it. What information to share...she wondered briefly about Shego's qualified endorsement of the woman, how was she to take that?

Her musings were interrupted even as she reached for the door handle by the Kimmunicator going off. Suddenly feeling an unexplained shiver run down her spine, she took it out and activated it. Wade's face resolved on the screen, and there was no sign of worry on his face, but somehow Kim still felt he was about to give her bad news. "What's the sitch, Wade?" She greeted the boy.

He grinned broadly. "Hey Kim, just wanted to let you know, Jen Paladin just flew into a community airport about nine miles from Go City, with her partner." His grin faltered, then vanished, as she saw the look of dismay on Kim's face. "What's wrong, Kim?"

Kim delayed answering as she squeezed her eyes shut and chewed on her lip briefly. Then she opened them and looked at Wade's face on the screen. "I _thought_ she was ahead of us!" She paused, thinking, then shook her head. "I thought, after giving me the ashes, she was going to come straight here, and get on the trail of the bad guys!" She flung up her hands as she walked away from the door. "I _hoped_ that she'd get the bad guys before Shego could get near them! Now what do I do, can I stall her?"

There was a moment's silence before Wade's puzzled "Stall her?" Brought Kim's attention back to her webmaster. "Oh! You couldn't know, I'm sort of teaming up with her, easier to keep an eye on her that way." The blatant skepticism that appeared on Wade's face immediately drove home to her how _wrong_ that sounded! But she was committed, one way or another. But she stopped short of reassuring Wade that things were under control. They weren't, and he'd certainly know it. "This sitch is tricky, Wade, and I'm playing it by ear. Just trust me, okay?"

Wade was silent for a moment, then he grudgingly nodded. "Okay, Kim," he replied, "But I'd feel a lot better if this was the kind of sitch you usually get involved with."

Kim sighed. "So would I, Wade," She answered fervently, "So would I..."

* * *

And so this chapter ends.

Please Read and review it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.

I'd like to thank Feudor and Screaming Phoenix for reviewing the last chapter, and those who did the same for all previous ones.

* * *

Jen Paladin would certainly not have been happy about being 'behind' Kim and Shego, if she had been aware of it as a fact. That it was a possibility had occurred to her, and she chafed at every delay in getting on the trail of those responsible for Milly Whitlock's fate. Currently that entailed waiting for a call from the most reliable source of information they had in the Go City area. And more importantly, most discreet.

She and Samantha McCarron sat in a Bueno Nacho just outside the city limits, each working on a Naco Grande platter. Chewing a mouthful of the main course, Sam noted the familiar signs of frustration in her lover. "Really wishing you hadn't involved Kim Possible?" She asked after swallowing.

Jen's scowl just deepened. "Not like I had a choice!" She growled in frustration. "It was either her, or let the Sister deliver the ashes herself, in which case Shego would probably have found out everything that girl said before she died, and we'd be trying to head off a bloodbath!"

"You think Shego would have gotten it all from the Sister?" Sam asked before biting into her Naco again.

"I don't think Shego would have hurt her, if that's what you mean." Jen replied, "But she would at least have found out that it started in Go City, and that would have been enough to set Shego loose on the trail." She looked out at the parking lot glumly. "Not as if we could have gone to Isle Drakkon and delivered the ashes ourselves, too much chance of Shego misinterpreting our intent. No, it had to be Kim, someone both the Sister, and Shego in her own way, would trust!"

Sam nodded her agreement while sipping at her soda. "And then we had to get someone we trusted on the hunt for the other girls from Go City Milly was sure were somewhere down there." She sighed. "But, we're basing all this on the testimony of a person who might justifiably be considered no longer sane, after all that happened to her. That's why I'm not expecting quick action from the FBI, or Global Justice."

"GJ needs more than the testimony, but the FBI should move quickly, if not with enough people initially." Jen opined. "And we need to know how far to trust the GCPD. If Milly was right, and the people who attended those shows are connected, then they might have protection. From what I've heard, the Police here aren't particularly corrupt when it comes to criminals, but when politics or people of influence are involved, watch out!" She looked at her watch. "Come on, where are you!" She muttered. "We need this info, but I want to get to the orphanage and ask questions _before _the Bureau does! And hopefully find no sign that Kim Possible and/or Shego are ahead of us."

"Amen...and are you going to eat that, or not?"

000000000000

Even distracted by her problems, Kim had no trouble spotting Mrs Kenneally, who was apparently waiting for her. It occurred to the teen that the Wegos had been sent to locate her and bring her back to meet the woman, but they had not had time to tell Kim.

The woman was polite and curious, but withheld any questions until they were in her office, a small one with one small window, with iron grillwork on the outside._ "One more thing to make the place look like a prison." _Kim thought. Truthfully, though, Kim doubted the grillwork was more then decorative. It just didn't seem strong to her, and she had a little experience in such things.

Mrs Kenneally's voice brought her out of her musings with a start, cheeks reddening slightly as she wondered if she'd been rude. "Since I doubt this is a social visit to our establishment, I assume this has something to do with Anastasia Black, who you might better know as Shego?" The woman's voice was carefully neutral.

Kim hesitated before replying. "She's involved, yes, for her own personal reasons, but this actually is about a girl named Millicent Whitlock."

The woman blinked, then her brow furrowed in confusion. "Milly? Whatever would...I can see how Ana might be involved, they were inseparable for four years, until Milly was adopted, but how would such a matter concern you?"

Kim decided to be completely honest with Mrs Kenneally. "Ironically, I'm trusting you in telling you all this because Shego said that while she never liked you, she says you can be trusted."

The look of consternation on Mrs Kenneally's face neared that of outright shock. Her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before she clamped it shut and put her thoughts in order. Finally she said "Ana says you can trust me? I was assuming that you were involved in this to stop her from doing something criminal, yet it sounds like you're working with her?"

"Actually, it's both." Kim replied, "Milly made a last request that Shego not ruin her own life trying to..." Kim winced at the renewed look of shock on the woman's face, she hadn't meant to reveal Milly's death to her this way. "..avenge her." She finished quietly.

Mrs Kenneally looked thoroughly stunned by Kim's words. Unless she was a great actress, she not only knew nothing of what had happened, but was completely surprised anything _could_ have happened. So Kim assumed she had been under the impression that Milly was in fact living happily with her adopted family, or at least that nothing had been wrong with the adoption.

"That didn't come out the way I meant it too, I'm sorry." Kim told her sincerely.

Mrs Kenneally gave an abrupt nod of acknowledgment, but took a little longer to find words. "I am stunned, of course, but also alarmed that whatever caused Milly's death brought you here. My only guess would be that you suspect her adopted family, and want to learn their identities. But I cannot give you that information, it would have to be subpoenaed by the police."

Kim's expression became grim as she replied. "Whatever information you gave me would be false, anyway, Ma'am. Before dying, Milly told the Sisters that there never was a family in St. Louis. She was still in Go City for three to four years after her supposed 'adoption'. And when the man who had her grew tired of her, he sold her to a...a brothel, overseas." Kim herself had to make an effort to maintain eye contact, or at least keep her eyes on the woman to gauge her reaction. The results were painful for the girl to watch.

It took several minutes for Mrs Kenneally to compose herself and speak again. "By what you say, this was some sort of white slavery ring that had Milly?" Her voice was steady, but very subdued.

"That's what I've been lead to believe, by reliable people." Kim replied.

Mrs Kenneally nodded slowly, keeping her gaze on Kim, though it seemed slightly unfocused. "And why are you here carrying out this inquiry, instead of the police?"

"Actually, you should expect other inquiries, Ma'am." Kim responded honestly, "I'm actually surprised that we got here first, I was hoping that one of the other interested parties had already been to see you. There's a private inquiry by the people who found Milly, and they were going to let the FBI know about it as well."

One of Mrs Kenneally's eyes twitched slightly at the mention of the FBI, and her gaze dropped slightly. "And 'we' is you and Ana, quite a curious thing...oh, I think I see. You can't stop her from pursuing this, so you're hoping by accompanying her to prevent her...killing someone, is that it?"

Kim found herself blushing slightly, and wasn't sure why. There was a slight stammer in her reply. "I—I don't think she'd _kill_ anyone, exactly, but she might let her temper get the better of her, yes."

Mrs Kenneally studied her for a moment dubiously. "I'm afraid I don't share your trust, if that's what it is, regarding Ana. There are some things that bring out a passion in her I can't describe as 'under control'. With regard to Milly, Ana may not be too rational at all." She pursed her lips in thought, then nodded, more to herself then Kim. "Let me tell you a few things about Ana's life here."

Kim barely kept herself from squirming uncomfortably. Not only was this subject not helping them get to the people responsible, but the longer she was delayed, the more likely Shego was to forget their agreement and go off on her own. And the girl also had to admit to a recent disinclination to learn anything new about her foe that showed how human she really was, an attitude that Kim herself was somewhat ashamed of. _"Is it that I want to think of her as a monster?" _She wondered. But she kept her inner thoughts off her face as she listened raptly to Mrs Kenneally.

"As you obviously know, the children here lack many things a family could give them. Privacy being one." Mrs Kenneally interlaced her fingers and held her hands slightly off the desk top as she spoke. "The younger ones live in dormitories, of which we have four, two for each gender. To date, there's never been an overcrowding problem. As they get older, they move into smaller rooms, which hold four or two children. But never a private room. When Ana was ten, she was lucky enough to get one of the two-bed rooms. And some of the children began to think 'lucky' applied to Ana, but not to her own benefit."

She smiled faintly at Kim's curious look. "You see, whoever roomed with her seemed to end up being adopted fairly quickly. And that was true, four straight roommates adopted within a month to three months of sharing Ana's room."

"But not Ana herself, obviously." Kim said softly.

Mrs Kenneally's face lost expression. "No, not Ana. She wasn't a very attractive child, to be frank. Neither was Milly, but both began to blossom in their early teens. Finally getting some orthodontic work done on them both helped. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Ana saw all those roommates adopted, and it was hard on her. She sublimated it by concentrating on taking care of Frankie and Teddy, which she'd been doing ever since Martha Waring got her involved. But she barely interacted with other children at all. And then came Milly."

"She stayed around a while." Kim surmised. _"Orthodontic work? Did Shego wear braces?" _She kept a straight face despite the amusing thought.

Mrs Kenneally nodded. "Almost three years. Not sure how long it took Milly to break through Ana's shell, but she did, and they became fast friends." Her face clouded over as she reminisced. "It helped Ana weather Mrs Waring's death, which shook her up badly. And then she began putting together her little 'family'."

Now Kim's brow furrowed. "I'm afraid I don't understand?"

"Ah, well...Ana saw Martha as her protector, her mother figure. The twins were a handful when young, let me tell you, getting into all kinds of mischief, and inviting the wrath of some of the other children. So Ana made friends with Henry Day, the biggest boy in the place, even though not the oldest."

"Hego."

That brought a fleeting smile and a nod. "Yes, 'Hego'. He was big, kind, and unassuming, and unlikely to get the wrong idea about Ana's friendliness. And even though he was mild-mannered, no one wanted to mess with him." She paused thoughtfully. "I never understood why she drew Warren, or Mego if you prefer, into their little group. Milly may have suggested that, but somehow I think Ana did it for some reason of her own."

Kim could only shrug in reply, she had no idea what might have gone through Shego's mind back then. If she ever had truly understood the woman at all.

"Milly 'blossomed' before Ana." Mrs Kenneally continued, "Practically as soon as her braces were out, she suddenly began to fill out enough to attract plenty of male attention." Then the woman frowned. "And that's when her adoption occurred, or according to you. Something entirely different."

Kim couldn't help the pang of sympathy she now felt for both Shego and the woman she was talking to, for different reasons. "And Ana was left behind again." Kim said, and not as a question, but a statement. She felt mixed feelings about letting the conversation continue on this course. One one hand, she had to admit she was fascinated by the story now. On the other hand, she needed to get on to the part about Milly's so-called adoption, to give her a trail to follow. On the third hand...she was supposed to be keeping Shego from reaching the bad guys first, and from what Kim could tell, the two of them were currently leading the hunt.

But again, the delay might make Shego renege on their agreement and go off to try and find the trail on her own. She might lack a specific target, but Kim feared that she might have a list of likely suspects, and no patience to ascertain their guilt before resorting to violence. So she reluctantly decided to steer the conversation back to the circumstances of the adoption, and what had been unusual about it.

"A man named William Frailey began arranging adoptions outside the normal system. At first, there was just the one, he said, a couple that didn't want to go through the normal system, but for valid and understandable reasons. Then came more, two or three a year. I objected, so did Martha, but Bill Frailey has been a benefactor to this institution for nearly two decades, first with just labor..he's a general contractor, or was then, he's much more now! Then he helped buy athletic equipment, entertainment, many things as he became more prosperous."

"So someone approved of the adoptions, and overruled you?" Kim guessed.

That drew a grim nod. "The Board of Directors backed him unanimously, and that was that! And when Martha died, there was just me objecting. Mainly to not meeting the adopting couples myself, though the documentation supplied by Bill Frailey was impressive. But some Board members occasionally vouched for the adopting family, so another objection was overruled." She paused, frowning as she concentrated. "I believe Milly was the eighth or ninth child adopted in that fashion. She was fourteen, by our reckoning. She'd been with us for five years, transferred from another facility that lost funding."

"I suppose if all the children adopted that way were all of a type, you'd have been suspicious, so there must have been some variety in them?"

"Oh my, yes!" Mrs Kenneally firmly acknowledged, "Though admittedly about two-thirds of them were girls, that's not unusual. Girls are adopted a little more frequently then boys, in my experience. Age-wise, they varied from...eight to fifteen, going on my memory."

"When was the most recent?" Kim asked.

"Ah! Well, there have been none in almost a full year, actually." Mrs Kenneally informed her, "Two things brought an end..or at least a suspension, in these adoptions. First, there was a change on the Board of Directors. The new member was Marianne Keith, Colonel, United States Marine Corps, retired. And as soon as she heard about these irregular adoptions, she objected strenuously enough that they've been stopped. Though Will Frailey still says he knows people around the country who'd like to adopt, he hasn't budged the Colonel to this point."

Kim nodded in approval. "And what was the second thing?"

A scowl of distaste crossed Mrs Kenneally's face. "Thomas Frailey, William's nephew. He also began to 'help' around here. Not as good as his uncle with repairs, but he was a cheerful presence and raised no objections...until I caught him and one of the girls involved in a sexual act." She shook her head grimly. "It turns out she was hardly the first, other girls came forward once the secret was out, they'd been afraid to before. He never forced them to do it, you understand, but he did use threats when some girls became jealous when his attentions went elsewhere."

Kim's face reflected equal distaste. "And if one of them became pregnant, I wonder what he would have done? So that..." She noticed Mrs Kenneally having sudden trouble making eye contact. "What did I say?"

The woman shook her head, obviously embarrassed. "Nothing...it's just that...well, there was no chance of pregnancy occurring due to the act in question, he never had actual...intercourse with them."

Kim blinked, then her cheeks colored. "Oh..." She said softly. Then she shook her head vigorously. "Anyway, his nephew's behavior damaged William Frailey's reputation around here?"

"Well, it was certainly embarrassing to him!" Mrs Kenneally acknowledged, "He was all apologies, of course...Miss Possible, to be honest, The only thing about Will Frailey that has ever struck me odd has been these adoptions. Other then them, I think highly of him. He has done a lot of good here, there's no disputing that!"

Kim took a moment deciding on her next question. "You say he's been helping for 20 years?" Mrs Kenneally nodded. "And the adoptions began when?"

"Twelve years ago." Was the reply.

Kim pondered that a moment. "She—Ana is about 24 now, so Milly's adoption was how many years ago?"

"Almost exactly a decade, I think..." Mrs Kenneally swiveled in her seat and began to use her desktop computer. "Ah, here we are! March, and no, it was just nine years ago. Then it was at the end of that June that Team Go was 'born'. After Milly left, Ana focused on her little family. Then that was all thrown into chaos by that so-called 'comet'!"

Kim scowled as she assembled facts in her head. "Then if something Ana told me, that she was fourteen when that happened...she's only 23 now. Did you actually see the comet?"

Mrs Kenneally snorted and nodded. "I was there to keep an eye on those five in the treehouse. Henry built it, with help from Warren and Ana. The twins were only six, not that much help. And Henry built it well, make no mistake about that. You see, unlike the other four in that group, Henry has parents he can remember. He was eight or nine when he was orphaned, he remembered helping his father build things. So he planned the treehouse carefully in advance. And of course insisted that only those who helped build it would use it first. Later others could. Mind you, he was a little old himself for a treehouse, he said he built it for the twins more than anyone, but you've met Hego, you know he got a kick out of it as well."

Kim smiled and nodded agreement. "I also know he's a lot smarter then people think, it's just application of intelligence where he falls short."

"That sums it up nicely. Did you know that he recently earned a college degree in accounting?" Mrs Kenneally smile st Kim's surprised look. "It's fairly ironic that your friend depicts Henry managing a fast-food franchise, because a certain chain has offered him a job in their financial department. Of course, he'll only take it if he can stay in Go City, and continue Team Go." Her look became solemn as she continued. "He wanted to be a hero, because a hero could have saved his parents, he thinks. He wasn't there, and the Fire Department didn't arrive in time...maybe in other circumstances they might have survived. Not that I object to this as a motivation to be heroic, you understand."

"I understand." Kim replied, glancing at her watch. Mrs Kenneally understood the gesture immediately. She rose and gestured to the door. "We can talk a little as I walk you out, the children should be occupied elsewhere."

"Firstly, the 'comet'." She said to Kim as they exited the office, "As I said, I was watching out for the five of them, afraid the treehouse might come apart around them, especially with Henry's weight in it. The object Henry calls a comet appeared out over the bay, and was traveling erratically when I first saw it. Including horizontal movement, which precluded it being a comet, meteor, or other falling object. Then it suddenly straightened it's course, save for a slight wobble as it flew, straight to the treehouse. It halted just short of hitting them, hovered for maybe twenty, thirty seconds, then exploded."

She frowned slightly. "I have to admit, the first person to run to the wreckage of the treehouse was Tom Frailey. But...he disappeared after pulling some of the wreckage away, not sure where he went. But in any event, the object was not a natural body, I'm sure of that."

They came to the main entrance, Mrs Kenneally holding the door for Kim as they stepped outside. "On the subject of Tom Frailey, I asked a friend on the police force to keep track of him. You see, I haven't given up the idea of pressing charges against him. He's currently employed at a garage called 'Porsky's Auto Repair'. And hanging out in a bar named the Bolts Hole. Not the best part of town to be wandering in, but you can take care of yourself, I'm sure." She said the last with a smile that didn't mask the concern in her eyes.

Kim nodded, then shook hands with the woman. "I'll be all right, Thanks Very much for your help. You should be having other visitors investigating this situation, hopefully not too far behind us. Maybe I can stall things enough for them to get ahead, I think it's work out better all around."

Mrs Kenneally scowled and shook her head. "It would, but knowing Ana, 'stalling' her won't work. Even as a child, she saw that for what it was, and it wasn't simple impatience. Her instincts are pretty sharp, always have been." She trailed of thoughtfully. "You know, I forgot to mention, we got a Christmas card from Milly, the holiday after she left. Some of the other orphans who were adopted that way sent letters or cards as well. I sent the card to Ana, who was a Ward of the City by then. I never heard back from her whether she got it."

"I'll ask, maybe Milly left some kind of message...which, if Shego missed it then, will make her feel even more guilty, now! That could be so the drama!" Kim grimaced, "But, I have to tell her, even all this time later, it could still be important."

Mrs Kenneally nodded solemnly. "Your decision. I wish you luck, Miss Possible."

Kim wondered if there was enough luck in the world to help in this situation. As she reached the street in front of the orphanage, she scanned the opposite side of the street. And then again. There was no sign of a blue Mustang, and she began to worry. She looked back at the orphanage, and saw Mrs Kenneally just going back inside. Then a sudden roar, and rush of air, betokened the arrival of Shego.

"Get in, you took your sweet time, Kimmie!" The woman snapped at her from the driver's seat. Kim scowled, but quickly entered the vehicle. Shego predictably burned rubber pulling away, before Kim could even begin to put her seatbelt on.

Km concentrated on buckling in, ignoring the obvious tension in the other seat. And again predictably, Shego lost patience quickly. "Well? Did you find out who we're looking for?"

Kim shot her an angry look, then became thoughtful. "Yeah, I know where we need to go." She told the thief, "But first I need to know more about the past, Shego. There may be an answer or two as to how to find these people for sure."

Shego sent her an angry glare, then subsided and concentrated on steering them through traffic. Raindrops began to splash on the windshield. Finally she spoke, tone haughty. "So, Princess, you want a history lesson? Well, that's what you're going to get!"

* * *

I've already deviated in some slight respects from the story this is a prequel to, and not sure how I'll eventually fix that.

Sorry for the long delay between chapters, I'm still not sure about how I wrote Kim's conversation with Mrs Kenneally.

For now, Please Read and Review.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.

I'd like to thank all my reviewers for this story, Feudor, King in Yellow, Screaming Phoenix, and Neihaera.

* * *

"Go City was officially founded by two guys from Russia." Shego said conversationally, "Soldiers of fortune who came here some time in the late eighteenth century. Their names were Anton Grigoriev and Peter Oschaevsky."

Sitting beside her in the passenger seat, Kim Possible frowned in mixed annoyance and puzzlement. She hadn't actually realized Shego meant to give her an actual history lesson. Still, she kept her mouth shut and let the woman have it her way for now.

"No one knows for certain what they did before they headed out west..." Shego continued as if delivering a lecture. "They may have fought in the Revolution, but no one is sure which side, or they may have been too young for that, no one is even sure what year they arrived in North America. Anyway, they founded a trading post here on the bay in about 1804. Had plenty of competition further up and down the coast, but it turned out they'd picked the best site when the first really harsh winter hit, and ice closed down all the other nearby posts to lake traffic. I mean, it can get frozen here, too, but not as often, or as badly."

Interested in spite of herself, Kim nodded thoughtfully. "So they outlasted their nearby competitors."

"Yeah, pretty much. May have had to shoot one or two that tried to take over the better real estate, that part isn't certain. Anyway, they named the post after themselves, the Grigoriev and Oschaevsky Trading Post. But that was obviously quite a mouthful, so on old hand-drawn maps of the time, it was marked as 'G & O' trading post. But over time, the punctuation sometimes disappeared as the maps became worn. When proper maps were made, it was so marked, but by that time it had become popularly known as 'Go Post', and that name stuck." She paused her narrative to glance at Kim as they idled at a red light. "Want to give me a hint where we're going, at least?"

Kim pursed her lips briefly, then nodded. "Ever hear of a place called 'The Bolts Hole'?"

Shego's lips moved, repeating the name to herself as her brow furrowed in concentration. After a moment, she nodded slowly. "Yeah, vaguely. I know where to find it, anyway." Back in motion again, she glanced sidelong at Kim. "Back to the history lesson?" Kim nodded, and one of Shego's eyes twitched, but then she nodded herself. "Right! Well, the place grew into a town, incorporated as 'Goborough' in 1834. Then less then thirty years later, the somewhat ambitious City Fathers decided to rename it Go City, though at the time it barely resembled anything remotely worthy of the name. But their were plenty of towns like that then."

Now she became somber, a bit surprising to Kim. "The Civil War practically put an end to the Oschaevsky family, and sickness finished their name. All the adult males fought, and died, for the Union. The three male children alive at that time all succumbed to a smallpox outbreak in 1868." She trailed off briefly, switching on the windshield wipers as the rain began to pick up. Kim sat quietly thinking about the tragedy Shego had just related.

After a moment, Shego picked up the story again. "Their bloodline lives on in the Grigoriev family, there were two marriages between the families. But the idea of something like that ending..." She trailed off again, then suddenly shook herself. "Anyway..um, I should say that their bloodline lives on in the _Gregory_ family."

Kim's obviously aroused curiosity made Shego smirk. "You see, about 1886 or so, the family patriarch decided to 'Americanize' their family name. It caused a split in the family, and some say a a frequently bitter one. Until the first Red Scare here in the States back in the 20s. Then they all seemed to have seen the wisdom of the name change." Shego now frowned. Kim, following her gaze, saw that they were now driving along the shore of the bay again. Easily visible was Go Tower, perched on it's island, one of a pair in the bay that Kim could see.

"A lot of things were named 'Go' in the early days." Shego continued, returning her full attention to the road, "Including those two islands, East Go Island, and West Go Island, where the tower is now. But then when Horace Greeley said 'Go West, young man!', the city fathers got cute, and changed the names to Go West Island, and Go East Island. The names may have had a hidden meaning, though. A lot of people at the time thought Go City was getting overrun with immigrants, and they had a slogan, 'Go West, Go East, go anywhere else but here!'" She caught Kim's grimace of distaste and nodded grimly. "Nice people around here, back then."

"About 1945, the City Fathers had a new idea, to build a big statue out there on Go West Island. Basically an idealized representation of one of our city's founders, welcoming ships into the harbor like he did trading schooners in the old days. Construction began a year later. It was made from blocks of dressed stone, rather then copper." She paused, a half-grin forming on her face, "And it was never finished. Half-finished, as in up to the waist before problems concerning money, naturally, caused it to be suspended. Embezzlement may also have been involved. Another thing was that it was a very rough form, with no details. Someone claimed that they'd be chiseled out later, but that struck a lot of people as bogus. Others claimed, because of it's appearance that it was meant to be a naked man."

She glanced at Kim, who was studying Go Tower thoughtfully, as if imagining the sight Shego described, while shaking her head slightly, possibly in disbelief. "So for decades this unfinished monstrosity stood there for all to see. And to make matters worse, sometimes after a rain, the way the statue dried off, you could easily imagine it to be 'mooning' the whole city." That brought Kim's head snapping around to regard Shego incredulously.

"You've got to be kidding!" She exclaimed.

Grinning, Shego shook her head. "Dead serious, Princess. Definitely an outline of pale buttocks, saw it myself many, many times!" Then she sobered. "Milly and I used to sneak across Bay Drive to sit down by the shore and talk. Wasn't the best view of it, but you could tell..." Her voice trailed off, leaving an awkward silence.

Kim tried to decide how to keep the conversation going, finally asking an easy question. "What happened to the statue when they built Go Tower?"

Shego snorted derisively. "They built the Tower _over _the statue, Kimmie!" She saw the girl blink in surprise. "From ground level up to the Control Room, the tower is a hollow shell covering the statue!" There's only three actual floors in the place, Control level, living quarters, and the hangar level! And the first two years we were there, we only had the elevator to get in and out! They finally sprung for a stairwell-slash-fire escape. Lucky someone donated the generators that run the place, we never lost power, but still!"

Kim kept her thoughts unspoken, but she somehow suspected that Shego had had a rant or two about the subject before. "After the so-called 'Comet', when we got our powers, we were all minors of course, and orphans. The City government at the time thought that Go City needed someone who classed as a 'superhero' in town, if for no other reason than to keep up with Gotham, Metropolis, New York, _et al_. They tried convincing some heroes to relocate, especially those who might have been considered the second-string in those places, but they were either flatly refused by those who didn't care about money, or had those who did make outrageous demands. And then, _We_ happened." She shook her head. "Ready made heroes, or so they and Hego thought, and minors who were therefore under their control, and had few rights of their own, or at least that we knew about. In a other words, Exploitable, and Malleable."

Her eyes remained focused on her driving even as she delved into her memories. "So, they made us Wards of the City, and tried to fulfill all our little hearts' desires, the better to keep us from actually questioning our great good fortune. And then they trained us, if you could call it that, gave us all our toys, and a clubhouse to live in, and then they expected us to be good little kiddies, be quiet, except at public appearances, and stay out of the way, while they used our existence as an excuse to slow budget increases to the Police and Fire departments. No cuts, but not much increase." Shego smirked, "Except they didn't know that one of their pet heroes was a long way from 'good'."

"So, you rocked the boat." Kim stated the obvious.

Shego rolled her eyes, "Oh, yeah! See, I didn't like the whole situation to start with, but I _hated _being a fraud, or someone's stooge! I also saw signs of division between the boys, and that scared me...then. Hego was all into the hero thing, of course, but Mego was more into the 'ego' thing, which shouldn't surprise you! He went from an introvert to the boy we now know and love in just a few weeks. I still wanted to hold my 'family' together, so I started trying to do something, anything, to get the boys to work together. First off, when we heard alerts about crimes in progress, and Police having trouble with whoever they were facing, I would try and convince the others to go. But Hego would say, 'But they told us to wait until we were called!', which would have been never, the cops resented us, or what we represented to them. So, I eventually got tough, and scared Hego enough that fear of the City just suddenly wasn't that important, and off we went."

"Scared him?" Kim queried, "Was that the first time you tried intimidation on him."

Shego scowled fiercely, partly at the interruption, partially because the brief feeling of what seemed to be embarrassment was suppressed almost immediately by one of disdain, and she actually recognized that one had overwritten the other. She chose not to answer the question, but went on with her narrative.

"Now, the City couldn't outright criticize us for stopping...um, was it Aviarius? Yeah, it was that first time, surprised I could forget that! So, they didn't say that we had done wrong, and to Hego, that meant we'd done right! So from that point on, we were off and running, fighting crime, saving lives, being real heroes." She paused as she considered whether to proceed into painful territory. "But they resented losing any control over us, and they knew who was to blame. They began working on reducing my influence. And I let them..." Her mood shifted abruptly as she noticed Kim's increased curiosity.

"I mean, I felt like..." She trailed off. How had she felt? But she shook off her doubts, and fell back on the version that she'd believed in ever since her departure. "They did a good job with Henry and Warren. Originally, they had envisioned me as the leader, because of my brains. But they really wanted an alternative, for many reasons, so they decided to fill Hego's head with ideas, and control the team through him. And I stopped trying as hard to prevent it..." She stopped and barely kept from shaking her head as she again drifted close to something she really didn't want to talk about. Especially with an enemy!

"I began to misbehave, seriously. Sneaking out, going places I didn't belong at that age. I was a serious disaster waiting to happen, Kimmie, I could have shown these 'pop princesses' nowadays a few lessons in bad behavior they haven't even thought of yet! Eventually, I guess, it was too much to get past even Hego, and I lost him." Shego shook her head, "And he began to listen to the City. How I was a bad influence, getting in trouble away from them. And I was more and more apathetic about it with each passing day it seemed I was almost glad when Hego and I had that talk, it gave me an out. A very, very, ugly out."

She shuddered, suddenly refocusing on the present. "They got their team of good little heroes, and held onto them tightly! They would never actually give us a 'Go Jet', because they wanted to keep us at home. I'd almost thank the buffoon for putting that in his story, it probably got Hego pestering the City Government for one. We got the GoCart as a donation, no way the city would have bought it for us!"

Kim frowned at her reference to Ron, but chose to stick to the subject at hand. "What about the Tower, that had to cost something to build."

Shego snorted. "Not really, and cost who? You know, even though we were like you, supposedly, doing it all for free and all, there were some people who wanted to reward us. Well, we never saw any rewards, but I've since learned that the Team has a 'Trust Fund', administered to by the city, and if you ever saw the books on that, you would want to meet the 'Chef' who cooked them, they are a thing of beauty! Anyway, I think the City made their money back on us. As to the Tower...Well, I've already told you all you need to know, they used it to cover an old eyesore." She broke off and began studying the signs on buildings they were passing, frowning in concentration. "This is the right neighborhood...so who are we looking for, exactly?"

Kim bit her lip, then prevaricated. "It might be best if you tried to spot a familiar face, someone from the orphanage." As Shego turned to scowl at her, she added, "If he's not at the bar..." She looked at her watch, "I know where he works, too." Then she remembered something from her talk with Mrs Kenneally, but Shego spoke before she could bring it up.

"You'd better actually know who we're looking for, and not be leading me on a wild-goose chase, Princess, is all I can say!" Shego snarled with more then a little heat.

Taken aback momentarily, Kim quickly regained her composure. "_I_ know, and _you_ should know him on sight, Shego!" She snapped back. As she did, she spotted their destination. "There it is, Shego!" She pointed for emphasis. The building stood separate from it's neighbors at the intersection of the street they were on and a much wider avenue that met and crossed it at an angle, with the bar occupying a triangular area formed by the two streets' junction.. Across from the bar were factories, as far as Kim could tell, their grounds enclosed by high chain link fences. There was little activity visible, but then again it was Saturday.

The bar itself was of red brick construction, and reasonably clean on the outside. There was a single row of narrow windows Kim would have had difficulty squeezing through high on the wall, and above it a neon sign 'The Bolts Hole' in blue. Both of the letter 'o's in the sign were represented by hexagonal nuts. The bar had a parking lot to itself, with parking on both sides facing the streets, and three cars were visible adjacent to the building. An alley containing two dumpsters separated it from a row of brownstones that they were driving past currently. The rain was keeping everyone indoors, it seemed, though Kim saw one child gazing forlornly from a first floor window as they passed.

Shego turned in to the parking lot and drove all the way around to look at the bar from all available angles. "Front Entrance, Fire exit, rear door." She observed, "Think the person we're looking for will bolt?"

Kim might have been over-thinking things a bit, but she wondered if this was leading to them splitting up to cover the exits. A situation Shego might take advantage of to give Kim the slip. She was certainly not acting normally, being so convivial, especially since they were hunting people who had done great harm to her childhood friend. But Kim chose to ignore her suspicions and attribute it to Shego deliberately diverting herself from thinking about that fact. Except that didn't really make sense either...

"Well?" Shego's voice startled Kim, who hadn't realized she'd taken so long to answer. Almost defensively she replied "Most people knowing you're after them probably would, but he shouldn't know you're after him. So I guess it depends on what kind of past you have..." Kim stopped as she realized that was important. If Tom Frailey had a preexisting reason to fear Shego, he might bolt before they had a chance to spot him. She gritted her teeth briefly as Shego watched curiously. Then the teen spoke again. "We're looking for Tom Frailey."

Shego's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Frailey? What could he have had to do with what happened to Milly? He was just a kid..well, older teenager, who had to help the handymen his Uncle hired to do some repairs around the orphanage!" Then paused thoughtfully. "Of course, he also is supposed to have had some fun with a few of the girls. Not me or Milly, but some of the others..." She studied Kim with an intensity that had the girl making a considerable effort not to squirm. "Okay, Kimmie, say he's inside, what do I ask him? Because I'm asking the questions, since I'm far more likely to get answers around her!"

Seeing Kim set her jaw stubbornly, she shook her head angrily. "Listen, Princess! You can make a bunch of henchman, not to mention most categories of evildoer, quake in their boots knowing you're coming after them. But these guys won't be breaking the law, they'll be eating lunch, hanging out, drinking...and you just aren't that menacing when you have no just cause for violence!"

Kim wanted to argue, but she knew Shego had a point. Her rep simply didn't suggest that she'd beat someone up for information. Shego's did, not that Kim intended to let her do so. But still, every bit of information she gave up to Shego increased in her mind the chance the thief would ditch her and go on alone, enacting vengeance on the villains.

And that certainty in Kim's mind caused her to view Shego with a degree of disgust. Her dead friend's dying wish had been for her not to harm others on a quest for vengeance, yet here she was. Of course being generally fair-minded, Kim recognized that she had no idea how she herself would act in such a situation. For instance, if Ron was murdered...and there was also the recent understanding that 'fair-minded' might not extend to Shego, Drakken, and the other villains she'd fought.

With the exception of Senor Senior Senior, she'd never completely trusted their word, if given. Even though none of her 'own' villains had ever broken theirs to date. Viewing them as people with their own problems was sometimes hard for her, and it often had taken reading one of Ron's stories and recognizing some of the truth in them to make her realize her failings in that department.

She recognized it partially as trying keep things simple, 'black and white' in her own mind. Even though she knew better. Then again, when she had first met Shego, there had been no problem seeing her as evil, because she had literally _oozed _it. And Drakken had been a ranting lunatic, no doubt about that. But things had changed, and Kim angrily admitted to herself that she seemed to be the slowest to recognize the fact.

But how did all that self-realization apply now? After a moment of tight-lipped silence, she sighed. "William Frailey arranged Milly's adoption, Shego, and many others. Mrs. Kenneally didn't approve, but the Board of Directors for the orphanage did. All they seemed to be concerned with was finding homes for the children." She paused, frowning, "Unless some of them knew about the white slavery ring, of course, but that seems unlikely."

"Yeah, right!" Shego replied derisively. "Wouldn't surprise me...who exactly is on the Board of Directors, anyway?" She pulled into a parking space as close to the door as she could manage, deciding not to tweak Kim by taking a handicapped spot.

"Just a minute." Kim replied, and pulling out her Kimmunicator, she called Wade. Her young friend seemed a little relieved to see her. "Hey, Wade! By any chance, do you have a list of the members of the Board of Directors at the Crescent Street Orphanage?"

Wade gave her an admonishing look. "Kim, how could you doubt it? I have a list of all current members as well as everyone who served on the board for the last twenty years!" Then his expression sobered. "I've also found more of those 'irregular' adoptions. Thirty-two total, so far. Boys, girls, all ages from 8 to 15. Kim, what happened to all of those kids?" He asked helplessly, a barely concealed plea for a comforting answer in his words.

Which Kim felt guilty for not having. Sometimes she wondered why she let Wade continue to help her. After last summer, the possibility of him confronting something truly evil had bothered Kim a great deal. As did her failure to consider that possibility before. "Wade, I'm not sure..." She replied honestly, "But hopefully we're going to find out, and do something about it!"

Wade did seem a bit cheered by that, but after all the time they'd been at this, Kim wondered how accurately he read her. She tried to sound as confident as she could. After all, their were other people following this trail as well, too many for the villain to escape, surely? "Give me a quick printout of those names, Wade." She requested.

But Shego just shook her head as she read them. "I vaguely recognize some of these names, but back then to me, they were just suits. You know anything important about any of them?" Whether or not the question was addressed to Kim, Wade, or both, it was the boy genius that answered first.

"All the current ones are clean, a few traffic tickets is the worse any have as adults. A couple have juvenile records, but they're sealed." He added the last carefully, obviously hoping for a response from Kim. Wade chafed a bit when Kim forbade him to do some things that were child's play for someone with his talent, and always hoped that she'd change her mind for special circumstances. He never disobeyed a direct instruction not to pry in any area, but if it was somewhere Kim had not expressly forbidden...but those were few and far between nowadays.

Therefore it was no surprise that an angry scowl appeared on Kim's face at Shego's next words. "I suppose it's out of the question for you to snoop in their bank accounts and see if any made deposits coinciding with the 'irregular' adoptions?"

After fruitlessly giving Kim a moment to respond, Wade shrugged. "No can do, sorry!"

Shego was tempted briefly to egg him on, but she didn't want bloodstains in her friend's car, and the glare Kim was aiming at her promised violence. Instead she shrugged her shoulders. "I get it, staying all nice and legal, Nerdlinger. Maybe I know a few people who can do that search for me, if it becomes necessary." She then rummaged briefly in the back seat before producing a fedora-style rain hat. "Only one, Kimmie, have to get your hair wet, I guess." She remarked with a smirk, then opened her door and got out. Kim glowered at her a moment, then pulled her jacket up as far as she could to shield her hair, and got out to follow the villainess into the bar.

0000000000

"Do any of you happen to know Tom Frailey by sight, and more importantly, where he might hang out?" The question slowly drew the attention of all the men in the room away from the fresh corpse at their feet and to the speaker.

The man in question went by the name Armand Macheles, and he was currently their employer. For some of them, this had been and off-and-on situation for some time. He didn't need them all the time, just when he was preparing to put on one of his 'shows'. Others he needed full-time, mostly to keep the 'performers' for his shows housed, fed, and locked away.

He was an unprepossessing sort to look at, pasty-faced, dark haired, just a little out of shape. He didn't have a lot of hair, but what there was was well-groomed. He was dressed in a white shirt with a plain gray tie, and wore half of a black business suit, the jacket currently draped over a chair set in a corner behind the desk he himself sat at, gazing dispassionately at the body of the man he'd just had murdered.

The actual murderer stood to his left, back to the wall. Anthony Belacost had once had high hopes of being a high-round draft pick in professional football. But a series of incidents, including testing positive for banned substances more then once in college, as well as a disrespect for the law, had left him a walk-on applicant for a defensive line job. And he had never managed to make it past the first cut his first three camps. Then another positive test for steroids, and he was then considered too old at twenty-seven to be worth developing.

That led to eight years working as hired muscle to reach this point. Six foot, eight inches and still packing 290 pounds on his big frame, he had snapped a man's neck at his bosses orders. If the fact the man had died laughing upset him at all, it didn't show. After all, he'd been around Mr Macheles long enough to believe that he did indeed have the power to change peoples' emotions as he chose. He'd changed the dead man's fear to feelings of joy and exuberance, even as the man had been intellectually aware that he was about to die.

Now one of the men hesitantly addressed Macheles. "I know where he works, now, and most of the guys who work there have a favorite hangout nearby, we can check there." He did his best not to cringe as Macheles fixed him with his gaze.

But after a moment's blank-faced scrutiny, Macheles nodded. "All right, you and Perry go see if you can find him." He said, nodding towards one of his rougher looking minions, "I need you to find out everything you can about this video footage he managed to shoot, thanks to that idiot." He indicated the cooling corpse on the floor. "Especially if he pointed his damn camera at the audience at _any_ time! Also whether any such shots were given to whoever posted the video online."

Both men nodded, then Perry asked "And after we get this info, you want the same for him as this guy?" At Macheles' nod, Perry looked doubtful. "His uncle won't be happy." He observed.

Macheles' indifferent expression didn't change a bit. "His Uncle hasn't contributed a thing to this enterprise in nearly a year! And besides, he knows what's at stake here, and his own security is far more important than his nephew's well being to him, trust me!" He looked at the corpse speculatively for a moment. "One more thing, is there any chance that fool told Frailey where tonight's show is being held?"

One of the more noticeable men before him replied. John Sutekichi, better known as the supervillain 'Pseudo-Sumo'. Though he currently appeared to be no more then 225 pounds, tops, on a five-eight frame, he could somehow increase his mass to nearly 390 pounds for brief periods, with a corresponding increase in his strength and resistance to harm. There was no actual physical alteration in his body, the excess mass had no visible presence, and defied current understanding. In Go City, there was no one who could withstand his charge except Hego, and then only if the hero braced himself in advance.

"I doubt it, Sir." Sumo indicated the deceased, "He was asking for that information himself just before you summoned us all here. I myself am still ignorant of tonight's venue."

Macheles' nod was perfunctory, having known this already. He waved at the two men he'd detailed to seek out Tom Frailey dismissively, and waited for them to exit before speaking again. "For the record, we'll be holding tonight's show at the Dunn Theater." He nodded to a pale, thin individual. "You'll see that all our 'guests' are informed a suitable interval in advance?" He shifted his attention to another individual even as the first bobbed his head nervously in acknowledgment, "And see that our stable of performers is there at least by six."

He barely acknowledged the man's nod as he continued. "Our craftsmen are already there, preparing the sets. It's a pity we can't have a celebrity performer tonight, but no one suitable can be obtained." He seemed to brood briefly on that fact, then his expression brightened perceptibly. "Still, the show must go on, and all that crap! Everyone get busy, and let's put this unpleasantness behind us! Anthony, notify the usual people to dispose of this idiot's remains."

His bodyguard nodded and ushered the others out as he himself left, leaving Macheles to brood once again. "A real pity..." He mused aloud, "Three shows in a row with no special participation. And I don't believe there will be that many more, this has gone on far too long for my sense of security." He shook his head, then opened his laptop computer and began to work with it. "Real pity..."

0000000000

The bartender on duty in the Bolts Hole was also the manager, and he looked up with interest as the door opened to admit two new arrivals. Currently he only had three other customers, all office workers from the factory across the street, and he hoped that the rain didn't keep the crowd this small. One man sat at the bar, while a young couple shared one of the booths and talked in low voices.

The newcomers were obviously female, and his eyes drifted from the obvious feminine attributes of the first to fall upon the more slender second, brow knitting in a frown. But as the taller one came more fully into the light, something about her caught his attention and held it. The color of her skin.

His eyes widened in recognition as his stomach did a flip-flop before settling down. He managed to completely regain his composure before Shego finished a quick sweep of the bar with her eyes, and ended looking at him as she took a seat on one bar stool. "Bud Light, draft." She ordered.

The bartender kept himself from showing undue haste as he complied with the order, eyes again drifting to the second newcomer as he did. He again frowned as he recognized her, the jacket now back in it's proper place no longer shadowing her features. His response was automatic, before considering what situation would cause Kim Possible to enter a bar in the company of her most notorious foe. "Sorry, Miss, but you can't be in here."

"Huh?" Kim blurted out before her brain produced the reason for the bartender's statement, causing her face to redden slightly. "Oh..."

"No one under twenty-one allowed during serving hours in an establishment offering hard liquor." The bartender stated firmly. "And I can't make any exceptions, even if I wanted to."

Kim's blush deepened, partially due to angry frustration caused by Shego's superior smirk. _"I'll bet she knew this would happen!" _She thought hotly, but managed a civil nod to the bartender. "Of course I understand, I wasn't thinking!"

"Sorry Kimmie, the law's the law, after all." Shego chided her, "Guess you'll have to wait in the car!"

Kim's cheeks burned with embarrassment from not having anticipated this. A quick look at the three patrons of the bar who were all listening raptly to the exchange gave her no cause to believe the person they sought was present, but it was still with great reluctance that she nodded and answered tightly. "Yes, I suppose I _have_ to! But our agreement still stands, Shego!" She added in a lower tone of voice.

One of Shego's eyes twitched in annoyance, but she nodded curtly. "Got it, Princess!" she responded, the added mockingly, "Now run along like a good girl!" The glare that Kim favored Shego with forced the bartender to exert a stupendous amount of willpower not to duck down behind the bar, and he barely hid his relief when the teenager merely nodded abruptly and left.

Not that he had any reason to relax, because that left one of Go City's most notorious former residents sitting at his bar, sipping her beer and studying him speculatively. He managed to retain his composure as he gazed back at her, causing the corners of her mouth to quirk briefly before she addressed him. "I suppose you can guess that I'm here for a reason? Well, I'd like to ask you a few questions about one of your regulars..."

0000000000

The rain was still falling heavily as Kim got back into the Mustang and slammed the door unnecessarily. She took nearly two minutes getting her anger and frustration under control while glowering at the entrance to the bar. Finally taking in a long, slow breath and then letting it out, she pulled out her Kimmunicator.

As she held it, trying to focus on what she needed to ask Wade for, she cursed herself yet again for not anticipating her being evicted from a bar. After all, after Ron had written 'So the Drama', Big Daddy Brotherson had actually threatened legal action if Ron didn't add a disclaimer, making it clear that neither teen had actually been allowed into the casino area at _The Bermuda Triangle,_ nor had Ron been allowed to participate in actual gambling on the premises.

Kim smiled briefly as she remembered Ron's predictable response when she'd warned him in advance that some trouble might come from it. _"What's he going to do, sue me?"_ he'd replied with a grin.

Thinking of Ron made Kim sigh deeply, wishing he was there with her. She harbored feelings of guilt about not telling Ron how dangerous things had become on her last visit to Isle Drakkon. She told herself it was solely because she didn't want him feeling guilty that he hadn't been there, but that was only part of the problem. She also hadn't wanted to admit how badly she'd messed up, or cause him to think he had to abandon things important to him in order to make sure she never went solo again. _Which_ would have also tweaked her not inconsiderable pride!

She shook those thoughts off and returned to the present. Activating the Kimmunicator, she smiled as Wade came on. "Hey Kim! How's it going with you-know-who?"

That soured the smile a bit. "Oh, just Spankin, Wade!" Kim stared out the windshield at the bar entrance again, then returned her attention to Wade. "Wade, can you find the location of 'Porsky's Auto Repair', here in Go City?"

"Coming right up!" He replied cheerfully. Less than a minute later, the Kimmunicator screen changed to a map of the neighborhood Kim sat in, with her location and that of the garage indicated. She quickly oriented herself, deciding which direction their target would approach from. _If _he came to the bar for lunch. Kim wondered if it wasn't more likely that the bar was where Tom Frailey went after work, when he could drink freely without worrying about working afterwards. But, she admitted that she didn't know enough about the man to be certain. But some things about him should be easy to learn.

"Wade, can you find a picture for me of a man named Tom Frailey? His Uncle is a benefactor for the orphanage where Shego grew up, but other then that, I have nothing more for you to go on." Then she reconsidered. "He _might _have a criminal record...if we still have any access because of Global Justice, you might check the GCPD database."

Wade looked dubious. "Well, we still have the authorization Doctor Director gave us, but using it means she'll hear about the search. So, if you're trying to keep it a secret..."

Kim scowled, but shook her head. "Doesn't matter, Wade, see if you can get that picture."

"You got it!"

As Kim sat and waited, the rain became even heavier, and now the wind was apparently picking up, driving the drops against the passenger side window. Which inconveniently reduced the visibility in the direction where she most needed a clear view. She muttered something impolite under her breath. Then Wade came back on.

"Kim, found three Tom Fraileys with criminal records in Go City. But two of them are over forty, so I'm thinking they're not who you're looking for. Here's a picture of the last guy." Finding no fault with Wade's reasoning, Kim studied the mugshot. Kim had a hunch Tom Frailey had had a hard time just before the picture was taken, he looked disheveled, with shadows under his eyes. Still, Kim judged him to be fairly handsome when cleaned up, just the sort of guy to be appealing to the girls at the orphanage. She could see him having little trouble seducing teenage girls, provided he wasn't completely charmless in his approach.

Wade noticed the grim look on Kim's face. "What exactly did this guy do, Kim? I mean, he was busted for disorderly conduct, three times, but that's not what you're after him for, is it?"

Kim certainly didn't want to tell Wade what Tom Frailey had been up to. "No, it's something different, something he wasn't charged with, Wade. Right now, all I'm interested in is being able to recognize him. Thanks, Wade, I'll check back with you later."

"Okay, Kim, I'll be here." His voice betrayed great reluctance to sign off, and Kim felt a little twinge of guilt. Wade was part of her team, cutting him out of the loop felt wrong. But then again, this sitch was not something he needed to get involved in. _"Except he is, because I'm in it! So, am I wrong to get into these kind of things, knowing my friends will get dragged into them as well?"_

Kim sighed, then pushed those thoughts aside as she considered her situation. If she saw Tom Frailey come along, what would she do? She didn't want Shego talking to him alone, so that meant stopping him from going inside in the first place. Since they would be visible from inside the bar, Shego could see them and come out if she chose. Kim grimaced at her own rationalization. _"That's the only way I can talk to him, I can't go into the bar if he does! But it's still splitting hairs, my deal with Shego..." _There was also the fact that Tom Frailey would justifiably be disinclined to stand outside in this deluge. There was an awning above the door, but it offered scant protection from the wind-driven rain at the moment.

Then her thoughts were interrupted by movement outside the windshield. The rain made everything blurry, and she practically pushed her face against the glass to try and identify the three forms she could barely make out moving past her towards the door.

She hadn't seen them approach due to the rain obscuring the passenger window, and now as she squinted she was sure that she could make out the features of Tom Frailey, just as one of his companions began to swing the door to the bar open. Kim frantically pulled the door handle and flung it open, shouting "Hey!" Then she was outside in the rain, watching the bar door swing shut. Either they had not heard her, or chose to ignore the shout. She growled in frustration, took a step towards the bar, then angrily turned back and dove back into the shelter of the vehicle, now thoroughly soaked.

She sat there shivering miserably, eyes fixed on the door. Things were out of her hands now. This whole trip to Go City was beginning to seem like her trip to Isle Drakkon, one thing after another going against her.

As she sat there and brooded, another vehicle rolled into the lot and pulled into the parking spot three to her left, on the far side of the two handicapped spaces. Inside it, the two men from Macheles gang sat. Perry was busy donning a pair of leather gloves. His companion, Mitchell, was having trouble sitting still, eyes darting nervously about at random things as he moistened dry lips.

Gloves on, Perry reached over the back seat and produced a shoe box, which he opened, removing a cloth wrapped object. This proved to be a pistol, a 9mm automatic. He checked to make sure it was loaded, with a round chambered, then stuck it in the back of his waistband. "Okay, let's go!" He told Mitchell, "If we can, we get Frailey out of the bar quietly. Even voluntarily, if you can think of a way. If he doesn't come, we scare him a bit, then leave and wait for him to bolt. Hopefully, we won't have any trouble with him at all, but we _will_ be getting everything Mister Macheles asked for, got it?"

Mitchell's answer was a jerky nod. Perry looked at him for a moment longer, then shook his head in disgust. "Come on, let's get this over with!" He snapped, then opened his door and exited into the rain. After a moment's hesitation, Mitchell followed, ducking his head and dashing for the awning.

He stopped beneath it briefly as Perry went straight inside. He noticed the Mustang, and admired it distractedly for a moment. He noticed it was occupied, but could not make out any details of the occupant. In any event, it wasn't important, he reasoned, as he swung the door open and went inside the bar.

* * *

Apologies for the delay in updating this story, needed to be in right mood to write it.

Please Read and Review.


	7. Chapter 7:Interlude

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.**

**Thanks to Screaming Phoenix and Robert Teague for reviewing the last chapter.**

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The sun was still shining brightly in Middleton, and felt particularly hot on the back of Dean Stoppable as he diligently, if not obsessively, worked on sanding down his deck prior to applying a new coat of varnish and weatherproofing.

To be honest, he was working out his frustration more than anything else, and his anger. It may have surprised some, but he was mostly angry at himself. Angry for acting without taking time to think properly, at a time when he was tired and far too emotional for rational judgment.

The frustration mostly came from two sources. One, trying to decide how to deal with the consequences of his actions while getting the right message across to Ron. Secondly, the fact that he didn't think Ron knew the real reason why he had been so angry. He wasn't even sure his wife knew.

Learning to anticipate all possible outcomes from a given situation had been part of his preparation to be a good Actuary. And that generally did not include such considerations as the specific personalities of the people involved. Most of his calculations were based on people in general...

He stopped abruptly and mopped his forehead with a washcloth. That wasn't the way to explain it to Ron! Or was it? Sometimes Ron could grasp things that were incredibly complicated...and sometimes he couldn't see the simplest...

"Dad?"

Dean didn't quite leap to his feet at the unexpected sound of his son's voice, but his heart skipped a beat or two. He looked quickly over his shoulder to see Ron regarding him uncertainly. He didn't like the fact that his son would ever regard him that way, but could hardly blame him. Still, he kept his voice neutral as he replied "Ronald."

Ron shuffled his feet nervously. "Dad, can we talk? I—I know why you're so mad at me...most of the reason was obvious, and Mom told me some things..." His voice trailed off meekly, eyes downcast.

Dean shook his head. "I don't think you know _all_ the reasons that I had to be angry, son." Ron responded by looking up and regarding him curiously. "I doubt even your mother knows them all, or they didn't occur to her. You see, son, as an actuary, as people say, I crunch a lot of numbers. But they're not just numbers, they represent possibilities. Factors that can affect people's lives. And it's my job to consider _all_ of those possibilities, those scenarios, in coming to my conclusions."

Seeing Ron was only more puzzled, he sighed. "Ron, if you think this is about you having sex...to tell the truth, I thought you had 'done the deed' over a year ago. Didn't tell your mother that, of course..."

Ron's jaw had dropped, and he stammered in astonishment, "Wha-What? Wh-why w—would you think I had had sex! And why are you mad...well, besides Yori sneaking around the house like she did?"

Dean grimaced, then rose and took one of the folding lawn chairs he had moved aside so he could work. Setting it up, he sat down. Ron followed suit a moment later. Once his son was settled, Dean spoke again. "I think the first subject can wait until another day, not sure I want to hear what else could have made you behave...as I say, another day! As to Yori's nocturnal visits, I am certainly angry about them, make no mistake!" He paused to suppress a flash of anger. "Ron, she's an adult, and you're not, which makes it...well, not very uncommon, but still against the law!"

"Only if someone found out!" Ron replied, "And even then, would anyone have made a big deal out of it? Besides, only you and Mom, Kim and Yori know!"

"And have you apologized to Kim for putting her through that? Even though you couldn't have expected it, _and _she's certainly used to being embarrassed by you," Ron flinched at that, "This was far beyond any of those things!"

"The ones you know about, anyway!" Ron muttered under his breath, then blushed at his father's scrutiny. But after a moment, Dean apparently let it drop, and asked another question.

"As far as anyone making a 'big deal' out of it, Ronald, let me ask you this: Do you know how much your Mother and I had to go through, in real life, to adopt Hana? In order to prove to the state that we could provide a safe and stable environment to raise her in?"

Ron frowned in puzzlement. "Well, I know it was a lot harder then I wrote it in my story, because you went all the way to make it all proper and legal! I even had that lady interview me about how I'd feel going from being an only child to suddenly having a baby sister! That's what inspired me to write the first story with Hana the way I did, pretty much the exact opposite of how I really felt..."

Ron stopped suddenly, face screwing up in concentration as a thought intruded on his dialogue. Then after a moment, his eyes widened slightly, then all the way as an alarmed look came to his face. "They—they couldn't have taken Hana away from us if they heard about Yori, could they? I mean, Kim would never...oh, SNAP! I wanted Kim to go with us, what if it had been another babysitter, like Wendy Randolph, or Trudy Livingstone? Oh, man, that would have been..."

Dean was making placating gestures with both hands. "Ron! Calm down, please! For one thing, if it had been either of the other girls, they would have been unlikely to have been sleeping in your bed!" Seeing Ron calming slightly as he thought that over, Dean nevertheless didn't let his son off the hook entirely. "But that would not have precluded them encountering Yori, Ronald!"

Ron shook his head vehemently. "Dad, trust me, Yori would never have been seen by them if she was trying to sneak!" Then another thought occurred to him. "And if they did, well, they'd have just thought it was something to do with Team Possible, a ninja sneaking around the house! Sure, it would have upset them, but...what?" He had noticed his father shaking his head.

"Ron, they wouldn't have seen a woman _dressed_ as a ninja." Dean informed him, "According to your mother, she, Kim and Yori had to come downstairs and collect Yori's clothes from the kitchen so she could dress before they confronted us. Apparently, Yori got a thrill out of sneaking through the house naked on her way to your loft! Which suggests, among other things, that she may have been a bit overconfident?"

Ron conceded that with a nod, as his face turned a deep red. "I—I didn't know...oh, boy, if _Mom_ had ever seen her like that...oh, she did!" His father had to hide a faint smile as Ron thought things through. "But if one of the other girls had seen her...just _seen_ her, never mind having Yori get in bed...oh, _man,_ there'd have been all kinds of trouble!" He looked at his father with a bit of awe. "And you thought of all that, that night?"

Dean nodded. "Remember, it had been a long, emotional day, and I was quite exhausted. And there was Kim, looking so embarrassed, and thinking about waking Hana made me think of her, which made the possibility of losing her jump into my head, and you were the cause...I may have overreacted a bit."

"_Overreacted?" _Ron shot to his feet. "Overreacted? You should have grounded me for life!" Then he considered his own words. "Well, that wouldn't work too well, I'll be 18 this summer...but I'd still let you ground me for three, no _five_ years, if I cost us Hana! And you're right, I didn't apologize to Kim, just like a gazillion other times I embarrassed her! Sometimes I remember...but mostly I just take her for granted, I'm such an idiot!"

"Ron, calm down. Kim understands...which doesn't excuse you in the least! But to put this simply, I saw a worst-case scenario stemming from that little escapade, and made a decision I should have waited on, at least until I was calmer!"

Ron waved his hands dismissively. "Don't apologize for that, I deserved some punishment, even if nothing bad happened! But I hate that this punishment might affect Kim, I worry about her, off on her own! I know she didn't tell me the whole story about her visits to Isle Drakkon, either time, because she was hiding bad stuff! I just worry about her, Dad!"

Dean nodded in understanding. "I know, son, I know! Listen, we can certainly modify your punishment with regards to accompanying Kim on missions..."

Ron nodded jerkily. "Yeah, but only for that! All the rest I can skip, but not keeping Kim's back!"

"Well, is Kim on any sort of a mission now?" Dean asked.

Ron blinked. "I'm not sure if it's a mission or not...let me call Wade, to see what's going on!" But when he checked for his Ronnunicator, he found that he didn't have it. "Um, have to go find it, be right back, Dad."

"Fine, son, and then we can do a little negotiating about your punishment." Then Dean added in a warning tone, "Not that you should expect to be let completely off the hook, Ronald!"

Ron smiled bleakly, then bobbed his head and dashed into the house to search for his Ronnunicator.

Dean sighed and leaned back, studying the clouds above. _"And to think that I assured the adoption official that very little of the 'drama' in Ron's stories was real, or would likely affect Hana! In any event, no matter how slim the odds, I don't like tempting fate, unlike my son!"_

Then he looked at the deck again and sighed. _"Now I've worked off all my frustration, and still have to finish this!" _He shook his head and knelt down to begin working again, only to leap back up startled by his wife's voice.

"You're right Dear, I never considered that that incident might affect Hana in any way." She came out of the back door onto the deck, frowning as she pondered the matter. "But, do you really think there might have been trouble?"

Dean shrugged, then put his arms around her. "They had their doubts about whether Ron's and Kim's lifestyle might pose a threat, even accepting that Ron's versions of their adventures were somewhat exaggerated. Now, if something _did_ happen, even remotely connected to those concerns, they might cause problems, even if only to cover their own...responsibilities. I mean, ninjas in the house all by itself might be a reason to worry, but a _naked_ ninja?"

Jean rolled her eyes. "Yes, I can see where some people might frown on that!" She observed sarcastically. Then she looked him in the eyes. "So, no that mad about Ron having sex at his age?" She asked neutrally.

He grinned. "I try never to throw stones, my dear, especially when I was hardly innocent myself at his age." He looked her in the eyes meaningfully, "As you well know!" He grinned broadly when she blushed and hid her face against his chest.

But after a moment, she hesitantly asked "And the Yamanouchi involvement?"

He heaved a deep sigh. "That, I'll probably never be comfortable with to be honest, Jean."

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes, then nodded sadly. "I suppose I can't blame you, I guess I feel the same way...to be honest." Then she resumed their embrace, and they stood like that for a long time in the hot sun.

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**Think I'll post this as an 'interlude' in the story. Been so long since I posted to it at all, but I'll try to remedy that. I just have to decide how close I stick to the outline for these events I already posted in 'Four Seasons: Summer'.**

**For now, please read and review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.**

**What follows is not necessarily properly synchronized, time wise.**

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When it took Wade a full ten minutes to respond to his request, Ron assumed something was wrong. He just erred in believing that it was his fault. But finally the tech-genius' face reappeared on his computer screen, with a resigned look on it.

"Let me guess," Ron spoke first, "I somehow managed to disable the tracking signal on my Ronnunicator again?"

A slight smile briefly lit Wade's face, but then he became serious. "No, Ron, I found it, all right, it's just where it is that has me...concerned." After a moment of lip-chewing indecision, he explained. "It's in your Dad's sock drawer." Having said this, Wade apprehensively awaited Ron's reaction. And found himself puzzled by what he saw.

A puzzled frown on his face, Ron leaned back in his chair, idly tapping his mouse with one finger as he thought about the information. Wade for his part began to grow even more confused by Ron's long contemplation. When the boy finally nodded his head and leaned forward again, Wade clenched both hands into fists as he awaited Ron's first words. Which didn't match his expectations at all.

"So, when did Kim talk to him?" Ron asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

Wade's jaw dropped. Truthfully, he already had reached the conclusion that something was going on beyond the obvious, and even that maybe Kim was involved, but he had honestly expected Ron to jump to the obvious conclusion, and maybe explode. Now he felt embarrassed for underestimating Ron. "D—do you think Kim asked him to hide it?" He stammered out eventually.

Ron shook his head. "No, she'd never do that, because she'd be afraid that if I found out it was hidden by Dad, I'd get mad at him, and she'd never cause trouble between us." Then he smiled faintly and looked Wade in the pixelated eyes, "Or in other words, she'd jump to the same conclusion about me that you did, right?" His voice held no accusation, merely a bit of humor. "That I'd automatically assume my Dad did it as punishment, or something?"

Wade blushed, then nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I did." Then he looked at one of his monitors. Something in one corner made him frown, but then his attention focused on the center of the screen. "In answer to your question, _he_ called Kim, and by coincidence, it was just after she met Jen Paladin and the Nun. And according to my tracking program, your comm moved from...underneath your bedside table, to your Dad's sock drawer about ten minutes later."

"He probably called Kim to apologize for losing his temper in front of her." Ron reasoned, then he asked curiously, "When exactly was this?"

"Well, your Dad called Kim right after leaving Rabbi Katz." Wade replied.

Ron winced. "I knew he went to see the Rabbi, and I know he wouldn't give the Rabbi any details by choice, but Rabbi Katz is kinda good at getting the whole story, so...I think I have a talk with my Rabbi in my near future." He smiled ruefully, "And no urgent missions to get me out of it!"

"Well, I can't say much, since I don't even know all the details of how you got grounded!" Wade exclaimed, then blushed again. "Err, it's not like I actually _need _to know...let's get back to Kim and your Dad. Why do you think talking to her would make your Dad do what he did?" He again glanced at whatever was annoying him on his computer, frowning.

Ron counted on his fingers as he replied. "First, if Dad wanted to confiscate it, he wouldn't hide the fact, he'd take it openly. He let me keep it because he trusted me not to break the grounding. Two, if Mom wanted it confiscated, he'd still have done it, and made me think it was his idea! So, if he's hiding it, he's protecting someone. And the only person he'd let come between me and Kim is...Kim, if you get my meaning! Why, is the question!" He frowned. "Wade, when I called Kim in the middle of her mission on Isle Drakkon last summer, did I mess anything up?"

Wade shook his head emphatically. "No! In fact, she relaxed during the call, I think it was good for her, except for being embarrassed that you found out she'd gone there without telling you. But if Kim didn't ask your Dad to hide the comm, why would he do it?"

"How long did they talk?" Ron asked back.

"That's a bit of a surprise, just over an full hour, believe it or not!" Wade replied.

Ron's eyes widened, but then he smiled. "Bet Dad picked up on something bothering her, and pried it out of her! You don't happen to have any recordings of the conversation, do you, Wade?"

Wade shook his head. "I only record her Kimmunicator, not her cell phone, that's our agreement! So no way of knowing if you're right." He hesitated, then tentatively spoke, "Since we brought up Isle Drakkon...have you noticed any weird behavior on Kim's part after that second mission there?"

"You mean like her getting all tense when the Kimmunicator goes off, then relaxes as soon as you tell her it's _just_ Monkeyfist or Killigan?" Ron responded without hesitation.

"Uh, Yeah...except that only applied when you were with her when the call came in." Wade grinned slightly at Ron's surprised look, "So there's some kind of call she expects to go through me, that she's afraid of you overhearing."

"Sounds like it." Ron agreed, then sighed, "Truthfully, it sounds like she's trying to protect me from something, it's not the first time." After a moment lost in his thoughts, he looked at Wade again. "Do you believe she told us the whole story of her trip to Isle Drakkon?"

Wade snorted. "'Course not!" he replied with a knowing smile.

"Do you know the true story?" Ron then asked him seriously.

Wade stopped smiling, and chewed his lip for a moment before nodding hesitantly. "Part of it, yeah." He turned his attention to his computers, typing away at something slower then his usual rate. "I got into the database of the Isle Drakkon Constabulary and read the official reports, but while they give a good overall description of things, they don't tell much about Kim's own experiences. Even Kim's own statement doesn't tell much!" He shot Ron a wry grin, "She tries so hard not to take too much credit, she leaves far too much out! A good defense lawyer might use that against her, I wonder if Doctor Director has spoken to her about it?"

Ron rolled his eyes briefly. "That's Kim! But you _did_ find something, right?" He persisted.

"Of course!" Wade replied in mock outrage, before getting serious. "But the source is what you're not going to believe, possibly in more ways then one!" Then he hit the enter key, and the familiar voice of Motor Ed Lipsky filled the air.

"_So, I'd nailed the one dude, right? Got his rifle, nice old model M-16, the kind you could go full 'rock-and-roll' on, right? And I was seriously ready to take on some bad guys..."_

"_Then you got surprised by a woman!" _Another voice cut in. There was a long moment of silence, and Ron could imagine Ed's audience holding it's breath to see how he handled the interruption. It also told him that this was not the first time Ed had told the story, obviously.

"_Dude, I'm telling this story, right? Do NOT interrupt me again, seriously!" _There then followed a brief pause before Ed spoke again. _"I had gotten a little distracted making sure the guy kept his gun clean, but yeah, this Paladin bro—um, __she was standing right behind me." _Ron thought he heard a muttered expletive from someone in the audience. _"You met her too? Then you know what I'm talking about, when that lady has her game face on, she is one scary bro—woman!" _Another very brief pause and Ed's tone became a little awestruck. _"But man, what a bod on her! Man, my throat's dry as a bone..." _There then came the sound of Ed hoisting one, only to be interrupted.

"_And you got to get up close and personal with that bod, didn't you, Ed?" _It wasn't the same person who'd interrupted before, this sounded like one of Ed's gang that Ron knew, _"And her blonde partner..." _He was cut off by what Ron assumed from the sound and his own imagination was a great deal of beer being expelled from Motor Ed's mouth with great force.

"_Heh, not..no!" _Ed spluttered in denial_, "That was just a story I told Slug to piss him off, you know how he hates hearing how other people keep scoring, ever since he married his old hogmate." _Ron exchanged curious glances with Wade, who shrugged. _"Nah, the truth is I just had Janey for company after the fight, back at my crib. And trust me, she may have been kinda on the short side, but she was nearly more then the Motorman could handle! Something had her all revved up when I got back there, maybe big storms turned her on!"_

"_Get to the part about Kim Possible nearly being wasted." _The first interrupter spoke up again. Ron's blood ran cold at the words, as he saw Wade's face turn grim.

"_All right, I'm getting there, and be glad that wasn't an interruption, Seriously!" _Ed replied testily. _"Anyway, the two of us, with her leading...don't look at me like that, if you'd been there, you wouldn't have argued with her, either! Anyway, we had to go up the path to Cousin Drew's back door through this hedge, and just before we reached the veranda..."_

"_Veranda?"_ queried a new voice.

"_Veranda, patio, whatever, who cares? Are you going to let me tell this, or not?" _After ten seconds of silence with no response, _"Anyway, I hear this guy's voice, saying 'What kind of fool brings Kung Fu to a gunfight?' Now this Paladin chick had a '16, just like me, but as she steps through the gap in the hedge, she lets it drop, just holding it in her left hand by the carrying handle on top. And before I can see what's going on, I hear her say 'If it's a gunfight you're looking for...' and she lets it hang like that."_

Another pause as apparently Ed wet his whistle again before he resumed. _"Now I can see what's going on, there's this big dude with a big gun, .500 Magnum __Smith, it turns out, standing on the far side of the ver—patio, now looking at __Paladin like he can't believe his eyes. And Red...she was down for the count, a good thirty feet from the guy, all bloody..at least her face was, she got her cheek __ripped pretty good..." _Ron winced, he remembered the dressing on Kim's face when he'd next saw her. The wound beneath had healed cleanly without scarring, but he'd never forget the twinge of guilt it caused in him just remembering it, and the fact he hadn't been there when it happened.

He was so distracted by the thought that he missed a bit of the recording, apparently someone saying something regarding Kim's supposed 'helplessness'. _"No, Dude, seriously, I've seen Red in bad shape and still kicking ass, believe me! But this time there was nothing she could do, and you could see it in her eyes...never thought I would see it, but there it was!"_

"_Was the big dude dumb enough to try and pull his gun against Paladin?" _Came yet another new voice. Ron now wondered about the lack of background noise, this sounded like a conversation that might have taken place in a club or bar. Then he realized that Wade had probably done some filtering.

"_Yeah," _Ed replied,_ "Dumb and dead, just like that! One through the throat, the other through his front teeth, one or both through his spine on the way out!" _Ron winced again at the description, though he wasn't sure why. His thoughts drifted away briefly as he pictured the image in his mind, though the setting was all his imagination. He even envisaged Drakken watching the whole thing from inside the house, though the expression on the villain's face kept shifting in Ron's imagination. Then he became aware that Wade had cut off the recording.

"That's pretty much all the important part of the conversation." Wade informed him, "I've heard two versions of it he told in two different places, the first one I had to cut off short because he started describing his post-fight celebration, in vivid detail..."

"Fortunately, he learned better then to exaggerate in such matters." Wade's eyes seemed to nearly pop out of his head, while Ron barely restrained himself from leaping up out of his chair as a strange, female voice came from Wade's sound system.

It took a moment for Wade to find his voice. "W—who are you, and H—how the heck did you get into my system!" He stammered in outrage.

"We have a mutual friend, Mister Load." The voice replied, "And when you refused to answer my call, deeming it urgent that I speak with you, I asked him to gain access to your system, and he did." Ron was amazed to see how quiet Wade became, even as his eyes grew huge in his face. "As to who I am, my name is Jennifer Paladin, and we need to have a serious talk about Kim Possible's whereabouts, and whether or not she's traveling alone."

Wade and Ron's eyes met through their respective monitors, both stunned speechless.

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It might have occurred to Shego that it was a classic sitch, spotting the object of her hunt in the mirror behind the bar. Mind you, the mirror was only a 12 by 10 inch one that was probably one-way, rather then the big mirrors common in western movies.

But the only thing that went through Shego's mind was a sense of relief that something had happened to draw her out of her brooding thoughts about Milly Whitlock, thoughts she couldn't sort out herself. It was as if her feelings on the subject kept switching back and forth radically from moment to moment. _"Maybe I should face up to the fact that I'm becoming Schizophrenic!" _She thought sourly, just as the door to the bar opened and her eyes darted to the the small mirror.

She didn't make a positive identification from the small reflection, but that was provided by a voice she remembered well enough. "Hey, Griff." The bartender nodded in acknowledgment, and quite deliberately kept his eyes off Shego with an effort. The three men kept going towards one of the booths to Shego's left as she sat. At the same time the couple who had been sitting in another of the booths rose, the man dropping some bills on the table. They both looked unhappily through the windows at the still pouring rain, then the man called to the bartender, "Mind if we use the fire exit? It's much closer to where we parked."

Griff hesitated a moment before nodding. "Go ahead." The woman smiled gratefully at him before she and the man disappeared from Shego's sight. Her eyes left them anyway just before they vanished, drawn instead to where Tom Frailey and his friends were getting comfortable in their booth. Or rather two were, the third still stood upright. After a moment's conversation with the others, he headed for the bar.

Shego turned her head slightly to hide her face from him as he ordered beers for him and his buddies. Three different brands, two in bottles, and one draft. After he collected them and left, Shego caught Griff regarding her expectantly. She frowned and tried to center herself. Her primary instinct was still to just go to town on Tom Frailey to find out what she needed to know.

The idea that he had anything at all to do with Milly's fate had made her think of killing him. But that thought caused some rather extreme emotions in her. Not that she had ever desired to kill anyone, but the force of her negative reaction to the thought surprised her, almost as if her own disinclination to kill was being reinforced by something else, something almost distinct from her own conscience.

She hated the sense of uncertainty these thoughts caused her, but at the same time could hardly ignore them. But for now she had an excuse to put them aside, and try to make a decision as to how far she was actually going to go with Frailey. She wanted to know who exactly was behind all of this, and if Tommy-boy couldn't tell her, she'd have to go on to his uncle.

And then there was Kim Possible. Shego's feelings on that subject had changed a great deal since she had first encountered the teen, especially since last summer, when the girl had risked her life protecting Drakken and Shego from armed killers. _"But only after actually making their job easier by disabling me!" _She reminded herself, while grudgingly acknowledging that things could have gone a lot worse if Kim _hadn't_ disabled her the way she had, ironically!

The fact was, the girl had been there, and had in fact saved Shego's life. And that fact had been an unsettling one to the thief ever since. She had never failed to pay her debts, and always tried to discharge them as quickly as possible. But paying the teenager back was a hard thing to do. After all, how many opportunities did she have? When they encountered each other, it was always as adversaries. Shego had considered actually following the girl on her missions, hoping the opportunity might come up, but dismissed the notion as pathetic.

Now here she had entered into an agreement with the girl, and practically every thought she devoted to that agreement urged her to break it. But somehow she mistrusted those impulses, but wasn't at all sure exactly why. Weren't they in keeping with being a villain? She snorted. What exactly was a villain, anyway? She shook her head, then tried not to smirk at the confused look on Griff's face as she stood up and dropped money for her drink on the bar, then headed towards Tom Frailey's table.

He was seated with his back to the wall of the large booth, engaged in conversation with one of his friends, and only peripherally noticed Shego approaching the booth. His eyes flickered towards her once, then twice, then as she actually reached the booth recognition dawned and he shot up straight in his chair, eyes wide. Though his tongue seemed momentarily paralyzed, he soon managed to stammer out "A—A—Ana, I—I mean Sh—Shego, Ahhh, I mean..."

"I don't care what you call me, Frailey!" She snapped, voice sharp as a whipcrack, "In fact, don't call me anything at all, just answer a question or two for me!"

Frailey looked at his two friends, who flanked him, trying to see what support he could expect if things went south. And received little encouragement. Nevertheless some instinct, machismo or suicidal, caused him to get a little backbone. "Listen! I don't know what you think I might know that you'd care about, or where you get off coming in here and asking..."

He broke off as Shego leaned on the table and stared into his eyes. "Milly Whitlock." she stated coldly. It actually took Frailey a moment to put things together, and then his face paled. All bravado gone, he stammered "N—now l—listen, Shego! I had nothing to do..."

She promptly cut him off. "Don't go there, Tommy-boy! Don't start a conversation about how much _you're_ responsible for, just tell me a name, any name, that you think I might be more interested in! Because Milly's dead..." Frailey went so pale at that, Shego thought he'd faint, "And someone is going to pay for it!"

Tom Frailey's mouth moved soundlessly for a moment as he tried to find words. Then his gaze was actually drawn away from Shego to something behind her. As he actually became even more pale, Shego had to dismiss the idea that one of the other patrons was making an exit behind her back. That would have been inconvenient if they chose to call the cops, but she now suspected that her situation had just deteriorated due to an unexpected factor. And she quickly had her suspicions confirmed.

"It looks like we got here just in time." Came a voice, "And don't move, Shego, I know what you're capable of, but you have to be able to aim that power of yours, right? Also know you can't summon it instantly. So, one flicker of green and I'll also prove that you're not bulletproof! As for you, Frailey, you're coming with us, we also have some questions for you, and we're also determined to have answers!"

Shego resisted growling in frustration. She couldn't tell how many people, and guns, were behind her, there were no reflective surfaces available for her to spot them in. But she noted that Tom Frailey seemed to be puzzled by this intervention. _"Unless these guys do something stupid, I'm stuck! Maybe grab Frailey as he slips out of the booth to use as a shield...only works if they don't mind shooting him!" _Then an obvious thought slid reluctantly into her head. _"But there's always Kimmie, if she noticed anything!"_

0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

"Mister Load, I really need to know if Kim Possible is in Go City, and whether she is with or following Shego." Jen Paladin's voice made Wade wince briefly.

Ron, however, was the one who first replied. "Why should we talk to you? You're the one that got Kim into this mess in the first place!"

"Exactly what kind of mess would that be?" Was the reply, and now Ron winced.

"Well, I'm not really sure she's in trouble, but since she's in Go City with She..." Then he broke off with a grimace as he realized he'd just answered Jen's question.

Both boys faintly heard a different female voice from Jen's end. "Well, now who do we notify? Civil Defense, National Guard, the _National Imposer_?" There was no verbal reply, but there was a few moments' silence before Jen spoke to the boys again.

"For the record, Kim learned more about this business then I intended her to. I had to interrupt our meeting to answer a phone call from an idiot in Congress, and had to leave her alone with the Sister for nearly twenty minutes. The Sister was a kind of fan of Kim's, and one way or another, she ended up telling Kim far more then was good for her. Now, why were you checking up on the Isle Drakkon story? Only reason I can think of for you to be doing it now is because you have concerns about Kim's behavior, and you're looking for some clue in what happened last summer."

The implied slight of Kim immediately triggered Ron's instinct to defend her, and he quickly snapped, "We trust Kim!" But even as he said it, he had a moment of doubt as to the truth of the statement. Wade's next words put things in a different light.

"We're just not sure we understand her right now." The young tech wizard said hurriedly, shooting Ron a guilty look.

After a moment, Ron sighed and nodded grudging agreement. "I'm thinking that she's trying to protect me from...something!" he admitted aloud.

"Or, she's thinking practically, and much farther ahead then I would previously would have given her credit for." Jen replied.

"Huh?" Echoed through the speakers as both Wade and Ron reacted identically, exchanging confused looks on their monitors.

They thought that they heard a small snort from the other end of the line. "It's just occurred to me that Kim Possible knew exactly where she'd be right now, from the moment our meeting ended. And though you won't admit it to me, I believe she's trying to ride herd on Shego, trying to stop her from going too far in her search for vengeance."

"Vengeance?" Ron echoed, still being in the dark about much of the story, while Wade nodded slowly in understanding. "You're saying she knew she'd be going to Go City, even before she went to Isle Drakkon? But the only way Shego would have known to go to Go City in the first place would have been if Kim told her the whole story...no, wait..."

"Where else would she have gone, once she knew it involved her childhood friend?" Jen asked reasonably, "Unless Kim fabricated a false story as to how Milly Whitlock died, one that Shego would have accepted?"

Ron was shaking his head even as Wade replied. "She'd never have done that, not under these circumstances. Lying to someone about someone they cared about...if she actually believed Shego could care about someone in the first place..."

"She's...she's been talking differently about them...Drakken and Shego, that is, since last summer." Ron stated, "Sometimes when she said things like she used to, she'd get angry with herself, but she never explained why." He hesitated, then sighed again, "But then again, I never asked her about it, either." Then he shook his head angrily, "But what's that got to do with her not wanting me there? I mean, if I wasn't grounded?"

"Well, tell me, would you and her be able to maintain surveillance on Shego successfully from a distance, through Go City?" Jen asked. "And Mister Load, could you at least point us to the right part of Go? We've already wasted thirty minutes being lectured by a pompous ass of an FBI official about how we had better not think we can just 'waltz in' and do what we please in 'his' city. I have never heard cliched dialogue sustained for such a long time in one speech in my life!"

Ron and Wade had both grimaced slightly at Jen's question concerning trailing Shego, and Wade delayed responding to that for a few seconds by answering the question truthfully. "They headed to the industrial district, looking for a man named Tom Frailey." Ron regarded his friend curiously even as he faintly heard what might have been a mild curse from whoever was with Jen Paladin at her end of the conversation.

"As to your other question," Wade continued ruefully, "Even Kim says that Shego can lose her if she wants to. She kinda exaggerated when she said it, but she meant it."

They could imagine Jen Paladin nodding, "So the only practical plan was to accompany Shego, in other words. And if that is the case, how well would it work if Ron was there with them, in close proximity to Shego for an extended period?" Ron and Wade's gazes met as they considered the woman's words, and Ron might have felt insulted at the doubtful look on Wade's face, if he didn't think it was justified. Nevertheless, he felt like being the Devil's advocate.

"Well, I may have a habit of annoying Shego..." Ron ignored Wade's eyeroll, "But I'm sure Kim could handle the sitch."

"By taking sides, you mean?" Jen's words caused a frown on Ron's face, because he immediately guessed where she was headed. "If Kim takes your side, then that puts more pressure on Shego to 'play nice', and right now, that's a bad idea." That drew a grudging nod from Wade. "And if she takes Shego's side, how do _you_ react, Mister Stoppable?"

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped, a thoughtful look coming to his face. Though puzzled by that, Wade chose to defend him. "Ron could have handled it, he's not like he used to be! I mean, if you're going by his stories, he just continued making his character seem as shallow as he used to be...I mean, um...he's just a lot more mature these days, that's all! And Kim trusts Ron..." Wade trailed off as he saw Ron shaking his head, face sorrowful.

"No, she's got a point, Wade." Ron said quietly, eyes downcast, before looking him in the eye, "Tell her where to find Kim and Shego." He told Wade decisively, before addressing Jen, "I want to thank you for saving Kim's life, Miss Paladin, and I'm asking you to try and keep her safe this time, please, and I already know that's asking a lot, Kim's not the kind to make that easy!"

There was a moment's hesitation before he got his reply. "I'll—I'll do what I can, but as you say...listen, it would be far better if we could get ahead of the pair of them, though. More accurately, it would be better if practically _anyone_, us, the FBI, Global Justice, got to the man behind this before Shego!" Jen Paladin declared, "So if you don't trust us that much, give the any info you may have to either of them, the main thing we should be preventing is a situation where Kim has to get between Shego and Armand Macheles! Kim may have a history of handling Shego, but right now, she may be playing on the fact that Shego owes her a debt. But that may not matter, I doubt even Kim knows what she's in for if Shego goes into a killing rage."

Wade was typing on one keyboard quietly as he replied, even as he nodded his agreement with that reasoning. "I have no idea how to get ahead of them, Miss Paladin, but they're currently at a bar called the Bolts Hole." He added the address. "Like I said, they're trying to find this Tom Frailey. His uncle was a benefactor for the orphanage that Shego grew up in, and it was him that arranged Milly's adoption."

"William Bryant Frailey is the uncle's name." Jen Paladin responded, "We checked him out during our research into this business. Right now, he's airborne, returning to Go from a trip east. It might be smarter to go see him first, but there's no clear indication who would most likely know where Macheles is. The nephew, or the uncle? Have to play this by ear. Listen, if you need to get in touch with us, here's my cell number..." She recited, then repeated it, "But for now, have to deal with a delicate situation, or a very explosive one, in all likelihood. I'll do my best for Kim, but no promises!" She then hung up.

Wade immediately focused an angry look on Ron. "Okay, Ron, why the heck would you think Kim wouldn't trust you on this? You haven't done anything to make her doubt...what am I saying, she'd never doubt you..."

"As a friend, no, I've never given her any reason to doubt me there, Wade..." Ron interrupted him, "But as a mission partner? As good as I've gotten since we first started, I'm still the one that messes things up. And don't say anything about always coming through in the end, because that's not the point when you're planning ahead!Because many times, I shouldn't have had to 'come through', if I hadn't gotten us in a mess, or made one worse, in the first place! And this sitch is a tricky one. As to acting and thinking more responsibly...Okay, I had been getting better..." He trailed off as if he'd run out of words, causing Wade to regard him quizzically.

"'Had been', Ron?" he asked pointedly, "When did you _stop_ getting better?"

Ron seemed reluctant to answer for a moment, then burst out "When one person started treating me as an 'adult', or so I thought, I started thinking that I was one, and that my judgment and reasoning was more mature. Like...not worrying about making grades good enough to get into college, because I knew I couldn't get into the same college as Kim, if she went to one of the good ones her grades earned for her! Then I could just go wherever she did, get a job, hang around and still go on missions like usual..."

Wade groaned. "Ron, you went through all of this before! I mean, you and Kim talked about it...last summer! And the separation anxiety, I thought you got it out of your system when you wrote 'Sitch in Time'!"

"No! Yes...maybe, I don't know! It's not the first time I got that idea in my head, but this time, a couple of months ago, I thought I was thinking more maturely, and it really did make sense!" He idly played with a loose pen on his desk for a moment. Then he sighed and resumed, "This thing with my Dad, it's not just the other night that set him off, there have been things that have been building up, that I could have done something about, but I let them go."

Now Wade looked perplexed. "Like the grades thing? How did your Dad know you were thinking about slacking off? I mean, your grades didn't really go down..." He snuck a quick look at one of his screens, "Well, you blew two exams back in February that should have been easy..." He scowled slightly, "in fact most of your papers for a couple of weeks were low, but your grades came right back up in March."

"Because I came to my senses." Ron replied, then shook his head sadly, "Or rather, I realized that how Kim would feel about it if she found out was more important to me than anything else could be. But then again I thought I didn't have to choose between them, I could have both..." He saw that Wade was once again perplexed, and smiled faintly. "But what I'm talking about here is my Dad. He knew something was wrong from the way I talked when he asked how school was going, and he started worrying."

"Well, didn't he ask you about it?"

Ron made a face. "Not exactly...you see, the way we do things...the way we talk...okay, this may sound weird, but rather then him bringing the subject up, he'd just talk, and sort of skirt around the issue, and let me choose to actually address it. Not that he's shy about it, but he wanted to see me willing to recognize problems and talk about them. If I didn't actually do it, he'd eventually just come out and ask. But how long 'eventually' is got longer as I grew older, and he wanted to give me more time to show responsibility."

Wade shrugged. "I suppose that could make sense, definitely not how Mom handles things, though! But, where was the problem, this time?"

Ron tapped his head. "Right here. Again, I thought I was thinking more maturely, now, and not for the right reason." His cheeks colored slightly. "And for some reason I saw the way we had solved things before as him treating me like a child, don't ask me why, while someone else was treating me as an adult. I was wrong, he was just treating me the same as always, like a son. Anyway, I ignored his attempts to get me to open up, so his concern built up."

Wade considered that information, but still looked puzzled. "But, your grades picked up again, why was he still concerned?"

Now Ron's cheeks really reddened. "Because he didn't know they'd gotten better! I mean, we don't get report cards anymore, parents are just notified if our grades are close to failing. So the only way he could have known how well or how poorly I was doing was for me to tell him, and I didn't! Resentment, or something, I guess. Then came this trip, I think he hoped we were going to bond a bit, and I thought it was about time I did tell him the truth, but once we got there, all his old friends took up his time! And his old school won, they celebrated and had a couple of beers...just two for Dad, I think, but still we were so worn out, we fell asleep in the car on the way home."

Wade nodded. "That much I saw from my video surveillance camera across the street. The recording, rather, I was asleep when you got back."

Ron frowned. "Across the street? Why put the camera over there? I mean, I know you promised my parents not to put any in the house, but still?"

Wade rolled his eyes. "Ron, I lost _five_ cameras that I placed in your yard! Two to hedge trimmers, two to the lawn mower, and one to a cherry bomb!"

Ron's eyes widened in surprise. "A cherry bomb? You mean, when Cousin Sean...you had a camera in the pink flamingo? That's not bad..." He broke off, then his eyes narrowed, "You never put any surveillance gear in the..." Then Wade cut him off.

"No, Ron, I absolutely did _not_ put any surveillance gear in your garden gnome! Besides, you've been paranoid about it since before you even knew me!" He stated in exasperation, then grinned, "It was cool how Sean ran to his and your moms to accuse you of doing it, and found that you'd been with them the whole time! Which I only know about because I heard your mother tell the next-door neighbors about it!"

Ron smiled, but was still clearly unhappy. "Anyway, all I'm saying here is that Dad was thinking that I was making some bad choices about school and other things, and I could have prevented that. And if he picked up on my immature behavior, what about Kim? She knows me better then anyone! Miss Paladin is right, if I was there with Shego right now, sooner or later I think it would have gone nuclear."

Wade had to acknowledge the logic there. "But you still don't think Kim asked your Dad to hide the Ronnunicator?"

Ron shook his head emphatically. "She'd never ask him to, I know it! He must have picked up on something like I said before...or she actually did say something..." He thought about it in silence for a moment. "Taking the Ronnunicator just keeps me from talking to her directly. If she didn't want me to know where she was, or what she was doing, she'd ask you to keep it secret..." He shook his head again, this time in frustration, "I think we're missing something here!"

Wade scowled, but then tentatively suggested "Then again, we may be missing the obvious here." Ron waited curiously as Wade chose his words. "She may just be remembering what happened last summer, and may be thinking that this could be the same sort of sitch, because Miss Paladin is involved, Shego, and Isle Drakkon."

Ron shook his head in denial. "Kim isn't superstitious, she doesn't believe in omens!"

"They're not omens, Ron! They're signs that this may add up to a very serious sitch..." He trailed off as if unsure whether to continue, then did. "She may have been thinking, that if you had been there when the sitch happened that Motor Ed described, that you might have put yourself between her and the man with the gun...and taken the bullet for her."

Ron met his friend's worried gaze solemnly through their respective monitors. Then he nodded. "And I would have, too." He declared quietly. Which didn't alleviate the fear in Wade's eyes one bit. Especially since his knowledge of the power of the gun involved told him that he would have had a good chance of losing them both to the first shot.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

"Idealists." Jen Paladin muttered as she tapped her cell phone against her chin.

In the drivers seat next to her, Sam McCarron's lips twitched slightly. "Yeah, they're such a pain in the ass, aren't they?" When that drew no response, she checked the GPS that now displayed a route to the Bolts Hole, before adding "We're talking about Kim Possible, of course?"

"She seems to be the focus of things right now." Jen replied testily, "Rather then Armand Macheles, who should be!" She grimaced as she studied the buildings they were passing. "I should never have left her alone with the Sister, she was so happy to meet Kim..."

"Well, you were talking to a politician, you can't use that kind of language in front of a nun." Sam cracked.

Jen favored her with a sour look. "I should have arranged for the meeting at Kim Possible's home, or our hotel, rather then a public place!" She groused, "But the Sister liked the park, such a nice place compared to where she's living, and I suppose I didn't want to meet Kim's parents. Anyway, if we hadn't been in the open, you could have stuck with them, rather then sweeping for other interested parties."

Sam shrugged. "Wasn't much of a catch, one _Imposer_ paparazzi, one Kim Possible blogger, and our mysterious young Asian woman."

Jen regarded her thoughtfully. "A well-trained young woman, you said."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but nervous for some reason, and impatient, both bad things to let happen when you're trying to watch someone unobserved. And she in turn failed to notice that she was being watched."

"By a middle-aged Asian male." Jen responded, echoing Sam's original report, "And Kim recognized the woman when she intercepted her after the meeting?"

"Yeah, but I was too far away to get any reading on Kim's body language as to how she felt about it." Stopped at a red light, she now studied Jen's body language thoughtfully. "You think this is going to end badly, don't you?" When Jen only tightened her lips a bit in response, Sam sighed. "It's one of those again, dragging me out of our warm bed at Oh-dark-thirty in the morning, stuffing me and my ready bag on a plane, mystery trip to Central America, knocking on a hospice door in a really bad part of town, and not explaining how you knew about Milly Whitlock in the first place!"

Jen still remained silent. With the light turning green, Sam tightened her grip on the wheel as they began moving again. "I _so_ wish I hadn't promised not to ask where these jobs come from! She muttered under her breath.

"But you did promise, Sam." Jen said in a sympathetic tone. That caused Sam to smile ruefully and nod. Jen drummed her fingers on her jeans-clad knee for a moment, then shook her head angrily. "Maybe we should try and intercept the Uncle, he's far more likely to know where to find Macheles!"

Sam looked doubtful. "But that would leave Kim Possible alone with Shego, a ticking bomb if ever there was one, and we have no idea whether her temper will hold out until she reaches Macheles, she could explode far earlier. Besides, Shego owes us her life too, in a way, so we might be better served joining up with them, that way there will be more of us to contain the collateral damage when Mount Shego does erupt."

Jen snorted. "She's already forced to acknowledge her debt to Kim, do you think she could take being around two other people that she _might_ believe she owes? And that's not the point, we promised to make sure that Armand Macheles was put out of action, that's our job. Kim Possible got involved on her own hook, she's very capable, maybe more then I previously thought, so maybe we should just let her do what she obviously thinks she can, handle Shego, and focus on getting ahead of them!"

"The fact that you said 'maybe' means you don't think that's a good idea! Besides, two people who know Kim far better then we do aren't sure what's going on with her." Sam pointed out, "And if two of her best friends, one probably the person who knows her best, have doubts, how can you be certain she knows what she's doing?"

"There's plenty of reasons why those two might be confused by her behavior, they haven't had the experiences she has." Jen countered, "And I think Kim, like all of us, keeps her own secrets, even from her best friends. Possibly including any doubts she herself has." Her fingers drummed on her jeans-clad knee for a minute. "Everett Deal delayed us enough, the smart move for us is to try and get ahead of them." She added with little conviction.

Rolling her eyes at the memory of their encounter with the FBI SAC for Go City, Sam smiled faintly. "But we're not going to, are we?"

"Just drive, Sam." was the weary reply.

0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

Mitchell was absolutely convinced that disaster was about to befall him. That conviction had jumped into his head as soon as he heard Tom Frailey say 'Shego'. He had no clue whatsoever why the villainess might be interested in Armand Macheles' operations, and his brain was too busy weighing his options to worry about it right now.

Perry had his gun out, trained on Shego's back, held firmly in a two-handed grip. Mitchell knew he was supposed to watch Perry's back, and was trying to do so despite his preoccupation with impending doom. Two of the three bar patrons had apparently taken cover in the rest rooms as soon as they heard the name Shego spoken. The third was pretending to ignore the altercation while trying to finish his drink. (And surreptitiously trying to take photos with his phone.)

Griff had disappeared, and Mitchell had no idea if he'd take a hand. Of course if either he or the absent patrons were calling the police, things were in danger of going completely out of control. All in all, Mitchell was rapidly approaching his stress limits. This partially explained why he let his own partner distract him. Of course by being distracted, he had Shego in his field of vision.

"Okay, you on the left, slide out so Frailey can get out!" Perry ordered one of Frailey's friends. When the man first looked towards Frailey, he emphasized his order. "I said move, NOW!" That caused immediate compliance. "Okay, Frailey, slide out, you're coming with us!"

"What the hell do you guys want with me?" Frailey protested, even as he complied with the order, sliding out of the booth and standing up, immediately moving two steps sideways away from Shego. Both Mitchell and Perry followed him with their eyes, but Perry never shifted his gun away from Shego.

If he was ever asked for an excuse for turning his back on the door, which he never was, Mitchell could list two legitimate ones. One, to keep Shego in sight. Two, there was a bell on the door that he would have heard if someone opened it.

The first hint that he might need such an excuse was a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision. But by the time he had redirected his attention enough to actually interpret what he was seeing, Perry was already halfway to the floor. His gun-filled right hand was pinned back against his shoulder, as he fell backwards over the leg of a girl with rain-soaked hair drawn back in a ponytail, too wet to tell it's true color. As Perry's head hit the floor, the girl shifted her grip to quickly twist the gun from his stunned grip, forcing him to let go or have his trigger finger broken.

After a long moment's hesitation, Mitchell instinctively leaped forward to help Perry. He couldn't tell later exactly how the girl had managed to kick him from her position astride Perry, he just knew that he had an afterimage of the sole of her shoe to accompany the pain of catching it on his jaw. He went backwards over one of the freestanding tables and crashed down to the floor on the far side, tangled up with two of the chairs.

Meanwhile, one of Tom Frailey's friends did something either out of loyalty or panic that could have been monumentally stupid. The one who had still been seated lunged up and shoved Shego hard in the back as she spun around in response to the sounds of Kim Possible's intervention in things. He actually sent the woman crashing into the arms of Frailey's other friend, and both of them fell into one of the window booths. The shover then spun and dashed for the fire exit, crashing through and sprinting across the rainswept parking lot without a glance back.

Tom Frailey's survival instincts didn't fail him, and he took immediate advantage of the reprieve. Without a thought for the friend now entangled with a very angry Shego, he bolted for the fire exit, too.

With a curse, Shego thrashed her way clear of man and booth. Ignoring Kim and her struggles, she too headed for the fire exit.

The remaining bar patrons now decided to depart, or at least watch what was going on from close to the front door. Two had their phones out, using the camera functions to record what was happening.

Kim tossed the gun clear of the melee, into one of the empty booths, after first clicking the safety on. The thought of using it to control the situation just didn't occur to her, being so far contrary to her nature. But the distraction gave Perry a chance to rally slightly, and he clipped her good on her right cheek, then managed to toss her off. The only good part as far as Kim was concerned was that in rolling clear, he left Kim between him and the booth where she'd tossed the gun.

"Who the hell are you kid?" Perry snarled, "What the F*** is going on here, you and Shego butting in..." Then a thought popped into his head, and he stared at her with narrowed eyes.

Griff's voice came from somewhere out of his sight, though it was obvious the bartender could see him. "Yep, that's her, Mister. Kim Possible."

Perry's eyes widened. "Wh—why? I.." He cast a quick glance at Mitchell. The inattention could have had painful consequences, but Kim too was distracted in a way, determined to end this fight and pursue Shego.

Seeing that Mitchell was unlikely to be of immediate help as he painfully disentangled himself from the furniture, Perry cursed loudly, then shot Kim an angry glare. "I don't have time for this _Bull_!" He snapped, then turned and dashed for the front door, the remaining patrons scattering from his path.

Kim hesitated, and cursed herself in her head for her own indecision. Then she made her choice, and dashed for the fire exit.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0 X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0 X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

**This was getting too long, a common curse for me, so I'll post as is. And probably work on 'Open Lair' for a bit before returning. And try to cut down on all the talking, get the plot moving faster.**

**For now, Please Read and Review.**


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